NorVin tops Shannons Melbourne Winter Classic Auction
One of the rarest of the mélange of British marques that appeared throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the NorVin is also one of the more desirable. This particular circa 1955 creation featured Norton's classic featherbed frame with a Vincent 'Comet' 500cc engine mated to a Norton 4-speed gearbox. Twin leading shoe front brakes were added at the time of its creation, but a new clutch was a recent upgrade. A pair of Smiths gauges sit atop the flat bars, while the Vincent logo stitched into the rear of the seat is a nice touch. Visually, the NorVin was a standout in its bold red paint, and its overall condition was hard to fault. The top lot amongst the classic bikes on offer, the NorVin sold for $30,000.
British marques made up the bulk of the Melbourne offerings, with the next best seller after the NorVin being a 1972 Triumph T150. 1972 marked the first year a disc front brake was offered on the T150, and this particular unit, originally sold in the USA, carried this feature. With its stunning purple paintwork, the T150, described as being in good running order, sold for $13,500. A used, but solid and complete Velocette MSS 500 single also sold well. Billed as a C1954 example (the year the MSS model returned to the market with a 499cc engine), the example on offer was described as being a runner, with minimal owners and a claimed genuine mileage of 91,881. Its rarity and originality was no doubt a factor in its final sale price of $10,000.
Not all the Brit offerings found buyers, though. Lot 56, a C1956 BSA B32 Gold Star 350, failed to sell, despite presenting better than the 'original condition' described. A C1953 BSA B31 and C1950 BSA B33 'Special' 500 were also well-presented units, but both failed to meet their reserve. A very neat C1967 BSA Spitfire (with later model engine) also failed to find a buyer.
The sole Italian bike on offer at Shannons' Melbourne auction was a rare 1964 Gilera 'Sei Giorni' Speciale 125 single. 'Sei Giorni' translates as 'Six Day' and reflects the Italian marque's class wins in the International Six Day Trials races of 1960. Curiously, Gilera chose to celebrate that success with a café racer-style road bike, rather than an off road machine! The example on offer was imported from Malaysia approximately twenty years ago and fully restored a decade later. A standout in its 'coffee and cream' paint and tan leather seat, this stunning, matching numbers Gilera was offered at no reserve and sold for $5,500. A 1975 Jawa 634 two-stroke was another European rarity on offer, but due perhaps to its unrestored condition, it failed to attract the same attention as the Gilera and was passed in.
Fans of classic Japanese bikes were catered for with an original, low mileage 1972 Honda CB 750/4. This 'rider ready' example was another unit offered at no reserve, and fetched $4,500.
While motorcycles made up only a small portion of the total lots from the Melbourne Winter Classic Auction, Shannons were nonetheless impressed with the variety on offer and the clearance rate. Shannons National Auction Manager, Christophe Boribon, attributed the strong results of the auction to the quality of the classics and the wide range of no reserve vehicles on offer.
