San Francisco – Bonhams is pleased to announce that it has been entrusted to represent what is regarded as one of the most important collections of motorcycles to come to market in years. From the prominent Du Pont family, an American name synonymous with a chemical empire, a luxury automobile manufacturer, and Indian motorcycle, is a private museum collection three generations in the making.
Offered for the very first time, this collection of nearly 50 vintage motorcycles spanning 70 years contains many important and impressive machines, a good number of them Indian.
As an investor of the Indian Motocycle Company since 1923, Eleuthere Paul du Pont took over the ailing company in 1929 and helped usher in one of the most successful eras – financially, competitively, technologically and stylistically – in Indian’s history. As a result of this, the Du Pont family collection contains numerous Indian models – many of them restored at Indian’s Springfield, Mass. factory – such as Camelback, Singles, Twins, Prince, Scout, Chief and Four, not to mention the following noteworthy individuals:
- A completely untouched, original condition circa 1903 Indian Camelback
- 1908 Indian Camelback with an early restoration by the Indian factory
- 1908 Indian Twin restored by the factory and displayed in Philadelphia
- An extremely rare original paint 1909 Pope Single
- Circa 1915 Indian Twin Board Track Racer acquired in the 1950s
- What is believed to be the last Indian Chief supplied to a dealer
Additionally, some notable British motorcycles will be included in the auction, such as a 1951 Vincent Black Shadow with just 3,000-odd miles, and a believed ex-Francis Beart 1959 Norton Manx, as well as numerous Triumph models. In all, the Du Pont family collection includes the following marques from America: BSA, Ducati, Gilera, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Indian, Merkel, Ner-A-Car, Norton, Peugeot, Pope, Scott, Simplex, Stephens, Suzuki, Triumph, Vincent and Yamaha.
The Du Pont Museum Collection will be offered at the second annual Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Sale on January 12th, inside the Auto Collections museum at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino on The Strip.
Buyers interested in registering to bid, in person or remotely, may visit bonhams.com/vegas