A spectacular 1929 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports has set a new auction record, at Bonhams' Bond Street Sale on November 30 in London.
 The Alpine Grand Sports is a touring version of the SS100, named after the Austrian Alpine Trial in which George Brough raced |
The motorbike, similar to those driven by Lawrence of Arabia and once the fastest machine of its day, made £315,100 ($492,769) - a new world record for a Brough Superior, or any British bike, sold at auction.
It beat the previous record of £291,200 ($469,359) by 8.2%, set in 2012 by an SS80 owned by company founder George Brough.
Brough Superior is known as the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles, with George Brough combining power and comfort to make some of the most impressive machines of the day.
The Alpine Grand Sports is a variation of the SS100, the classic model that famously came with a certificate stating it had been tested at over 100mph.
However, the Alpine Grand Sports is equipped for touring, and is named after the Austrian Alpine Trial for which it was designed. It features a lower compression ratio, small fly screen and mounted toolboxes.
While the Brough Superior SS100 now stands as the most valuable British bike sold at auction, several others have topped its price at auction, including a 1939 BMW RS255 Kompressor ($480,000) and a 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer ($551,200).
The world's most valuable motorbike is the Captain America chopper featured in Easy Rider, which made $1.3m at Profiles in History in October 2014.
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