First off I want to say a huge thank you to Simon for all of his help and invaluable information he has shared as well extreme patience while going through the collection.
I have been in contact with several members and everyone has been wonderful, it’s an incredible community.
The discovery started some 6 years ago when a friend in passing mentioned that the family “had a couple Vincents” but wasn’t sure where they were or any other details. Having always been into motorcycles and admittedly knowing very little regarding Vincents other than the fact they were extremely rare and valuable I figured nothing would ever come of it or if it were true at all.
That had always been in the back of my mind and then this past March things became real. The perfect storm led to everything coming to light. The family was getting ready to get rid of storage units they had held for 30 some years but had been guarded on details of their whereabouts. I was in touch and received a picture of a random few parts but I was shocked when front and center was a mostly complete Black Shadow engine and then a second pic of a few more crankcases and a pile of frames.
I was told there was another “pile of parts” I could look through and before I hung up the phone I was on my way to meet the family there. I had a picture of a run-down barn in the countryside flashing through my head but was astounded when it ended up being a very well-kept climate controlled storage unit. The second the door opened was nothing short of a religious moment, chills. The “pile” of parts happened to be an entire unit packed to the brim with every part you can imagine, I could not make sense of what I was seeing, engine parts, frames, a rear tub for a Black Prince…
The first visit was quick as there wasn’t much time left in the day, I got on the phone with my brother and probably didn’t make a lick of sense in trying to explain what was found. We knew this was something huge.
Still unsure of what the next move was the following days were followed with day and night research with one lingering question remaining.. “Where are the bikes?”
After countless conversations it came to light that there was another storage unit in another city, not getting our hopes up, the thought of another unit with complete bikes was enough to lose sleep over.
My brother had a previously planned trip to visit the next weekend, the timing was perfect. Sharing the same excitement we headed out to get another set of eyes on the parts I was glad to know that I was not alone in the emotions of the find. We got news that the whereabouts of the other unit had just been discovered so we made the hour long drive to rather rough city. Despite being in a rough area, we found ourselves with the family at yet another climate controlled storage facility. Locating the unit it was obvious the lock had not been bothered in many years. Taking a moment to gather our thoughts and to once again calm our expectations we made our move. We threw open the door, eyes straining to adjust through the darkness and dust. There they were… several bikes covered in an inch of dust and moving blankets, I couldn’t bother with the mess and jumped over the pile of furniture that was blocking the path. The first bike I ran to, a Series D black shadow… next to it a series C Comet.
The story was no longer a story…
Being extremely fortunate I was able to bring my brother in and over the next few weeks with his help we acquired the collection and it has been non-stop ever since. It took countless trips and even more weeks to catalog and figure out everything that was there. The fight within ourselves as deciding what to do with the collection has led us to wanting to share it with the world and do our best to match up what frames we can with their respective bikes and give others a chance to own these wonderful bikes.
The jewels of the collection include
An original Egli-Vincent number 5, one that was sent to cycle world for testing
A completely numbers matching Series D Shadow
A Completely numbers matching Series C shadow
A Completely numbers matching Series C comet
Most of a Black Prince with numbers matching upper and engine
And for fun, a 1977 Ducati 900ss
All are available at NO RESERVE with Bohnams Collectors’ Mototcycles at the Barber Museum October 5th, a great opportunity for all.
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25580/#/aa0=1&MR0_length=137&w0=list&m0=0
Our VINCENT listings
LOT 151- Rapide project, matching frame numbers
LOT 150- Non-matching series C shadow parts lot
LOT 149- Egli-Vincent number 5 complete bike
LOT 148- 1952 Numbers matching comet with spare engine
LOT 147- 1955 Black Prince lot matching upper and engine, all fairings
LOT 146- 1952 Black shadow, mostly complete ALL numbers matching
LOT 145- 1955 Black Shadow, all numbers matching
LOT 20- Pair of heads
LOT 19- Pair of heads
LOT 18- Pair of heads
LOT 17- Brampton forks
LOT 16- Rapide crankcase #175
LOT 15- Petrol tank
LOT 14- Grouping of AMAL carbs
LOT 13- 5 SMITHS speedometers
LOT 12- 5” beautiful black shadow gauge
LOT 11- Lightning tach
LOT 10- Grouping of fenders
LOT 9- TWO KVFTT magnetos
Our non-vincent lots
LOT 185- 1967 Honda CB160
LOT 180-1977 Ducati 900ss
The amount of parts left is nothing short of overwhelming, We will be announcing one last machine in the coming month that came to light and is of extreme historical significance
