This restored AJS Porcupine rare motorcycle will be auctioned by Bonhams in August at the Quail Lodge in California.
Built in 1954 as a racing bike it was one of only four E95 models built by the British manufacturer AJS.
The model comes the National Motorcycle Museum in England and has been fully restored.
The AJS E95 is considered a very rare and special bike, with a brief but impressive racing pedigree.
The Porcupine could exceed $750,000 when it goes on sale.
On the model, Bonhams says:One of just four E95s completed by the factory, the Porcupine (so nicknamed because of the spiked cooling fins on its cylinder head) was created as a works racer by British manufacturer AJS and is perhaps one of the most legendary motorcycles in history owing to its brief, sunburst racing success and extreme rarity.
(See complete history at the bottom.
) “As far as motorcycles go, the Porcupine is at the very top,” says Bonhams CEO Malcolm Barber.
“It is arguably the most beautiful, graceful and innovative racing motorcycle ever built, the perfect blend of technology and art.
Comparisons are impossible but bikes of a similar caliber – rarity, significance and worth – could include a 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer, 1955 Moto Guzzi V8 or a mid-1960s RC Honda Grand Prix.
This AJS is an utterly important machine whose appearance at auction cannot be underscored enough.
”Because the number of AJS Porcupines is so scarce, each machine is well known with all 1954 models being accounted for (most earlier Porcupines were scrapped by the factory).
Until recently, this particular example had been on display for more than two decades, occupying pride of place at the world-famous National Motorcycle Museum in England, its motor having been overhauled by Team Obsolete Equippe.
It is estimated to bring upwards of $750,000 at auction.
Incidentally, it was an E95 owned by the Barber Motorsports Museum that won First in Class at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the very first year motorcycles were ever accepted.
For the full history of the model, see the Bonhams lot preview online.