The Forshaw Speedway Collection is being offered for sale, owing to the death of its creator, the late Richard Forshaw.
The Forshaw Speedway Collection.
Speedway has a rich history, with numerous manufacturers in several different countries producing specialist brakeless machines which only know how to turn left, powered by methanol-burning 500cc four-stroke single-cylinder motors. The world’s finest collection of these, numbering 31 bikes which reflect the glory years of a sport which was once the second most popular in Britain, will be put on sale on October 15-16 at Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale in the UK.
The Forshaw Speedway Collection represents a 60-year span of Speedway history from its beginnings in the 1920s up to the early ‘90s, from the early leg-trailing Rudge and Douglas machines which raced on cinder tracks from 1928 on, to the modern laydown Jawa and GM four-valves which epitomise today’s Speedway racers. Formerly displayed at the Haynes Motor Museum in the West of England for the past 25 years on a beautifully constructed timber track, the Collection is now being offered for sale with a total estimate of more than £500,000 owing to the death of its creator. The late Richard Forshaw was an engineer and enthusiast of the sport whose father, Captain Ivan Forshaw, was himself a former Brooklands motorcycle racer, before founding the family’s respected Aston Martin specialist motor business in the New Forest, near England’s South Coast. Richard was in his own words “a former, if undistinguished, speedway rider now with a passion for collecting the machinery of the sport”. He tested his engineering skills by restoring some of the machines which he declared to be ‘a labour of love’. Now the collection is being offered by Richard’s children, who said: “It has been an honour being custodians of our father’s collection. It represents a lifetime of enthusiasm and hard work searching for such rarities, and we hope they will find new and appreciative homes where they will be cherished in the same way that he cherished them.”
Headlined by a 1930s American pairing of a much-prized ultra-rare Crocker and an equally unique Indian, the Collection also includes an array of British-built motorcycles and some European ones, representing historic marques like BSA, Douglas, Norton, Rudge and Jawa. They’re being offered with associated Speedway memorabilia, including six standalone engines and an extensive selection of race jackets.
Here are a selection of the landmark machines in Speedway history that’ll be going under the hammer.
- 1934 Crocker Speedway 500cc OHV, estimated price £100,000 – 150,000
- 1927 Indian Speedway 350cc OHV Dirt Track Model, estimate £90,000 – 130,000
- 1930 Norton Speedway 490cc OHV Speedway, estimate £14,000 – 18,000
- 1929 BSA 493cc S29 Dirt Track Racing Motorcycle, estimate £8,000-£12,000
- 1929 Scott 498cc Dirt Track, estimate £6,000-£8,000
- 1931 Husqvarna 498cc OHV Dirt Track, estimate £7,000-£10,000
- 1928 Douglas 498cc DT5 Racing Motorcycle, estimate £12,000-£16,000
- 1930 Rudge 500cc Dirt Track Racing Motorcycle, estimate £8,000-£12,000
- 1985 Jawa Type 890 Speedway Racing Motorcycle, estimate £2,000-£3,000
- 1977 Jawa-ERM 493cc DOHC, estimate £3,000 – 5,000
- 1979 Rotrax-JAP 499cc DOHC Mark 2, estimate £3,500 – 4,500
Visit bonhams.com for more details.