Ehret Vincent sells for $1.1 million
An Australian-delivered Vincent Black Lightning made motorcycle history this past January when it sold for US$929,000 (AU$1.1 million) at Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction.
As previewed in JUST BIKES #346, the 1951 Black Lightning was originally purchased by Tony McAlpine, but became better known for its racing and record-setting efforts - as both a solo and sidecar outfit - with Jack Ehret behind the handlebars.
Limited Lightning
As the Black Shadow was an advance over Vincent’s Rapide, so the Black Lightning was an advance over the Black Shadow. Built purely for racing, the Black Lightning was a stripped-back, faster version of the Shadow, which itself was pretty handy, with a top speed close to 200km/h.
Introduced in 1949, the Black Lightning was available only by special order and it’s estimated only 33 were built before production ended in 1952, three years before all Vincent production came to a halt.
The Black Lightning ran the same 998cc v-twin engine as the Black Shadow, but featured modified internals, including higher lift cams, stronger conrods and a 13:1 compression ratio (for use with methanol) that resulted in almost 70hp (52kW); a 15hp (11kW) improvement in power compared to a Black Shadow. The 4-speed gearbox was unchanged, but additional cooling was added to the clutch cover.
The factory speedometer was augmented with a tachometer, with rearsets also fitted. Given its competition purpose, lightweight aluminium mudguards, magnesium brake shoes and racing-spec rims and tyres, along with other changes, like a compact solo seat, made the Black Lightning more than 30kg lighter than a Black Shadow.
Mac and Jack
It’s believed that, of the 33 Black Lightnings built, six were delivered to Australia, including the unit featured.
Chassis number 7305 was purchased new by Tony McAlpine in 1951, who had already raced Black Shadows with some success and had intimate knowledge of the Black Lightning program, having spent time working for Vincent during the competition model’s creation.
Like many of his Aussie contemporaries, McAlpine had gone to the UK to race, primarily at the Isle of Man TT. He saw great potential in the Black Lightning and it’s alleged he actually assembled #7305 during his time at Vincent.
Before shipping to Australia, McAlpine’s Black Lightning was pitted against ‘Gunga Din’; Vincent’s in-house model that had been used to develop both the Black Shadow and Lightning. While the two bikes were of similar specification, McAlpine’s was faster, pulling away from Gunga Din in a straight-line test and apparently achieving more than 200km/h in third gear.
Aussie Record
Once in Australia, #7305 was never raced by McAlpine, and he actually sold the bike to fund a future TT campaign before it turned a wheel in anger here.
The second owner was Jack Forrest, who held on to the bike for a similarly brief period before it was sold to Jack Ehret in 1952. NSW-based Ehret raced it almost immediately, taking the bike to a second-place finish on debut at that year’s Australian TT.
Soon after, Ehret decided the Black Lightning would be ideal for a crack at the Australian Land Speed Record. In January, 1953, on a public road in Gunnedah, NSW, Ehret wound the Vincent up to 141.5mph (227.6km/h); eclipsing the old record by almost 20mph (32.1km/h). Coincidentally, the record Ehret broke had also been set on a Vincent.
In Ehret’s hands, the Black Lightning would be campaigned in many sprint and circuit events in the years that followed, sometimes racing in both solo and sidecar races in the same meeting.
By the late-1950s, Ehret was campaigning #7305 less frequently, but he maintained it in running condition and brought it out occasionally for what would eventually be historic competition. It was still racing – and winning - as late as 1993, with Jack’s son John riding it in solo classes, then partnering his father for sidecar victories.
French Flavour
In 1999, after almost 50 years of continuous ownership, Ehret offered the Black Lightning for sale, where it was purchased by longtime JUST BIKES advertiser Franc Trento of Eurobrit Motorbikes P/L.
Conscious of its important place in Australian motorcycling history, Trento left the bike’s as-bought patina untouched, but kept it in running trim.
Trento sold the Black Lightning to a French collector in 2014, who commissioned Patrick Godet, an acknowledged expert on Vincents, to give the bike a full mechanical refurbishment.
That refurbishment included new pistons, valves, cams and followers, a new oil pump and other parts made to original specs, but the bike now runs on petrol, instead of methanol.
Similar upgrades came in the form of new wheels and tyres, new cables for the clutch and brakes, while those lightweight magnesium brake shoes were replaced with aluminium copies to allow the bike to be safely ridden at speed.
Record Setter. Again.
When the ex-Ehret Lightning was consigned for the Bonhams Las Vegas auction on 25 January it drew immediate attention and while it carried no pre-auction estimate, a solid six-figure sum was expected. The bike was being offered with its racing sidecar, fairings used for the 1953 LSR attempt, various documents and ephemera.
“Rollie Free and Marty Dickerson, both legends in the Vincent universe, knew of this motorcycle and Ehret's acclaim,” said Bonhams Head of Motorcycling, Ben Walker, prior to the auction.
“After the 'Bathing Suit Bike' ridden by Free, the Ehret bike is likely the most important Black Lightning in existence.”
In a sale that included several other Vincents, as well as Brough Superiors, rare early American models and some significant Ducatis and Japanese sports bikes, the Black Lightning outshone them all, with the bidding starting at US$300,000 then rapidly rising to the final price of US$929,000 (AU$1,106,450 approx.), including buyer’s premium.
That price makes the Vincent the new record-setter for a motorcycle sold at auction, eclipsing the US$825,500 paid for a 1915 Cyclone board tracker at a Mecum auction in 2015.
More important than the price was the fact that the buyer was an Australian, so the ex-Ehret Vincent will presumably be “coming home”.
Speaking after the record-setting sale, Bonhams’ Walker said: “We’re tremendously pleased with our results here in Las Vegas.
“Of course, seeing the Vincent Black Lightning achieve history – as well as go back home to Australia – was a real privilege.”
According to tracking on The Vintagent website for the most expensive motorcycles sold, the price paid for the Ehret Vincent is the fifth highest of any publicly-acknowledged motorcycle sale.
The ex-Easy Rider ‘Captain America’ panhead chopper holds the Number 1 slot with its US$1.3 million price (by private sale), but there are some question marks around the provenance of that bike.
The Rollie Free Vincent mentioned by Walker, the famous ‘bathing suit’ LSR bike, sold for US$1.1 million at a private sale in 2011.
Full details and individual lot info from this auction can be found at: bonhams.com
