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• Auction House:
  Donington Auctions
• Sale Name:
  Collectors' Motorcycles & Cars (New South Wales)
• Sale Date:
  12 Dec 2021 ~ 12noon (AEDT)
• Lot #:
  20
• Lot Description:
  1903 Beeston Humber 2¾ HP - Extremely rare example of one of the earliest and highest quality British motorcycles
  In the late 19th Century Britain was in the midst of a cycling boom, and Humber was one of the leading brands. In 1870, with the object of building the finest quality penny-farthings as possible, in Thomas Humber established his cycle business in Nottingham. He soon formed a partnership with racing cyclist Fred Cooper and his racing contact Thomas Marriott and they moved to larger premises at nearby Beeston in 1878. But Cooper and Marriott left the firm in 1885, and in 1887 Thomas Humber sold the company to Earnest Terah Hooley. Later jailed for financial fraud, at this time Hooley purchased 26 cycle manufacturers, raising the capital by floating a public company and issuing share certificates. As Humber was the most prestigious brand, the company was named Humber & Co Ltd, and for the first five years Thomas Humber managed the works in Beeston, Coventry, and Wolverhampton. The Wolverhampton works produced cheaper copies of the Beeston products, with Coventry concentrating on tandem cycles and juvenile tricycles. After Thomas Humber departed, two more questionable characters entered the scene; Harry J. Lawson and American E.J. Pennington. Lawson sought to corner the new motor market buy buying continental patents, while Pennington survived with his ability to sell worthless patents to gullible manufacturers. Both became involved with Humber Ltd, and in 1896 Humber produced the first practical British motorcycle, fitting an E.J. Pennington two-horsepower motor to one of their pedal tricycles. This was unsuccessful and the slump of the late 1890s resulted in Hooley's bankruptcy, the collapse of many of Lawson's companies, and Pennington's return to the US. After building a few motorcycles powered by De Dion-Bouton and Minerva engines, Humber's salvation unexpectedly came when Joah Phelon, of Phelon & Moore (later Panther motorcycles), sold them a license to build the P&M type of machine. This included a sloping 40-degree engine that replaced the frame front downtube. The first P&M Humber motorcycles appeared at the 1902 RAC Trials and performed impressively. The single cylinder engine displaced 344cc and employed an all-chain drive and two-speed transmission. At the 1903 Stanley Show in London, Humber exhibited the Beeston Humber solo and Coventry Humber tricycle, the latter with a water-cooled single-cylinder P&M type engine. The P&M type lasted into 1906 when expanding car production saw Humber run out of space to build motorcycles. After moving into a new factory, Humber resumed motorcycle production in 1908, now with an engine of their own design. Only a small number of Beeston Humber motorcycles were built between 1902 and 1906 and very few have survived. With UK registration 334 XUY, this 1903 Beeston-built Humber motorcycle was in continual ownership from 1936 until it was sold in December 2000. Mostly complete, it was fully restored over the next four years, paying close attention to detail. Between 2005 and 2009 this Beeston Humber was ridden on three Pioneer Runs. It required no additional work since completion and was in generally excellent condition. A high-tension ignition coil (replacing the original trembler and mounted inside a teak box of original appearance) is the only notified deviation from factory specification. British vintage motorcycle dealer Brian Verrall bought this motorcycle at the Bonhams Sale of Pioneer, Vintage and Collectors' Motorcycles at Oxford on 19 June 2010. In 2019 this rare Beeston-Humber was acquired from Verralls and brought to Australia. It is in superb condition and comes with a 2010 UK Pioneer Certificate issued by the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club Pioneer Register No.137, and a UK V5C document from the DVLA for UK registration number 334 XUY. This motorcycle is being sold unregistered.
• Estimate:
  A$20,000 - 30,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Automobiles & Accessories

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.