HILDEBRAND & WOLFMULLER: MISS THE LAST ONE?

If you didn't get a chance to bid on the previous Bonhams auction (earlier this year) of the world's first series production motorcycle, and in fact the world's first 'motorcycle' so named (motorrad auf Deutsche), you've got a second chance at the inaugural Bonhams Las Vegas auction, January 6th (Thursday) 2011, at the Imperial Palace.  And I have to say, bringing two authentic Hildebrand & Wolfmullers to auction within 12 months is quite a coup for the Bonhams gang - good hunting gents!

This particular machine dates from ca. 1895, and had a single owner for the past 50 years.  It was sympathetically restored decades ago, lending the machine a second patina, which looks very good indeed.  It's complete, and is estimated to fetch $130-150k...possibly a conservative estimate as the previous H&W which came under the hammer was in rough and incomplete condition, yet reached £86,200 (~$130k) - see photo below.

For a bit more info on the Hildebrand & Wolfmuller story, click here for my previous post on the subject.

BUD EKINS' GARAGE AT AUCTION

Legendary Hollywood native 'Bud' Ekins passed away 3 years ago after a life of hard riding, hard drinking, and irascible good humor.  Born James Sherwin Ekins (although he'd likely punch you if you reminded him) in 1930, 'Bud' had a little too much enthusiasm for cars and motorcycles as a boy, and spent time in reform school after being caught driving someone else's car...a stranger's...without the benefit of a key, or a driver's license.

By 1948 he had acquired his first motorcycle, a '34 Harley Davidson VL, which according to legend leaned against the wall of his father's welding shop.  His uncle owned the defunct machine, and offered to sell it to Bud for $10 if he could make it run.  Thus, the moto-virus was secured in his bloodstream, and he spent the rest of his life intimately involved with bikes, and a few cars.

He commuted the Harley to his job at the welding shop, not over freeways but on the rough trails of the Hollywood hills and along the LA river, before all became concrete and tarmac.  Pushing a large, heavy bike around in the dirt twice a day gave him valuable experience, and soon he was competing in local dirt races on the very same machine...not such an uncommon 'racer' in those impecunious postwar days, before the housing boom and general prosperity paved over LA.

A local dealer spotted Bud's riding talent, and offered him a Matchless single to ride in the Moose Run in 1951, which Ekins promptly won.  After further success, he turned pro, and within a year had sailed across the Atlantic to try his hand against the best in the world on the dirt, and make considerably more money, in Europe.   His first successes were in England, where he earned $200/week racing for AMC (Matchless), about ten times what he'd made in the US.  Shortly he would also ride in France, Spain, and Belgium, all of which had huge followings for scrambles - in fact some of the earliest sporting events on TV at the time were off-road motorcycle races.

He returned to the US in '54, and traded in his Matchless for a Triumph dealership in the San Fernando valley, set up by US importer Johnson Motors (now better known as a t-shirt company...).  Bud continued racing as well, winning the Catalina Grand Prix in 1955 and '57; he also won the Big Bear desert scramble twice.  His winning streak in SoCal was a great boon for Triumph in the US, and his skills handling tricky sand/dirt/rock terrain earned him the nickname 'the Desert Fox'.

Steve McQueen entered Bud's Triumph shop in 1959, and the two became fast friends.  As McQueen's star rose from a Western tv star to international movie star, he brought Bud along for help with film stunt work.  In 1963, during the filming of 'The Great Escape' near Fussen, Bavaria, Bud was employed to ride one of the most famous motorcycle stunts in history; 'the jump' over a prison camp barbed wire fence on a stolen German motorcycle (which transforms mid-scene from a DKW RT250 to a Triumph TR6 in dark green paint).  Of course, everyone thought McQueen had done the jump, as he preferred to do his own stunts, but the production company insisted he was too valuable to the film to risk injury, and Ekins leaped into infamy.  It's a compelling scene, and McQueen's cool demeanor in the film catapulted him to mega-stardom, and 'cool icon' status.  It was McQueen himself who credited Ekins with the jump, during an interview on the 'Johnny Carson Show' (now of course hosted by Jay Leno, a huge motorcycle buff - we are everywhere!), when asked about it: 'That wasn't me. That was Bud Ekins.'  For the jump, he was paid $1000, the highest compensation ever for a single stunt - and it was done in a single take.

During the long weeks of filming in Germany, Ekins entered the International Six Days' Trial (ISDT) in Czechoslovakia (he had entered once before and won a Gold Medal - eventually winning four Golds and one Silver during his career).  After winning his second Gold mid-film, McQueen, an excellent motorcyclist himself after personal tutelage from Bud, convinced Ekins to form the first-ever US ISDT Team.  Thus, in 1964, Ekins and his brother Dave, Cliff Coleman, and McQueen competed in East Germany, where they didn't fare well as a team (both Bud and Steve failing to finish due to injury), Dave and Cliff both won Gold medals.  The unreapeatable adventure of this ISDT is beautifully explored in the book '40 Summer Ago'  (Rin Tanaka and Sean Kelly), and if you're a McQueen or Ekins fan, you really should have it - the photographs are simply amazing.

In 1967 Ekins went on to partner with McQueen on the film 'Bullitt', with an infamous car chase over the San Francisco hills.  Ford was the beneficiary of incalculable publicity as Ekins launched a '67 Mustang Fastback over the sharp hillcrests of the City, smoking tires, sliding around corners, and making an impossible route through SF while chasing the 'bad guys' driving a Dodge Charger.

Bud Ekins retired from motorcycle racing in '67, but continued to run his motorcycle dealership and perform stunts in films, from motorcycle gang films ('Hell's Angels 69' - above, in a pic from the sale), to disaster films ('Towering Inferno'), and even James Bond films ('Diamonds are Forever').  When asked later in life which stunt scared him most, he replied, 'Pretty much all of them'.  Ekins died October 11, 2007.

His great love of motorcycles extended to vintage machinery, and Ekins had a very good eye for interesting early motorcycles and cars, eventually amassing over 150 machines.  One of his employees, Kenny Howard aka 'Von Dutch' (now better known as a t-shirt company...) painted many of Ekins' personal machines, some of which he decorated in his distinctive style of pinstriping and imagery.

Bonhams auctions has secured 8 vehicles from the estate of Bud Ekins, including 5 motorcycles, one 'loose' sidecar ('Mona', painted up by Von Dutch, above), and 3 'brass era' cars.  They're coming up for sale at the Petersen Museum in LA, on Saturday Nov. 13th. Also included will be photographs, memorabilia, trophies, tools, racing jacket, and ephemera from his friend Steve McQueen....it's entirely possible the total sale from the 'automobilia' will exceed the vehicles, given their provenance!

You can check out the entire collection here at the Bonhams website.

MEN'S FILE PHOTO SHOOT, PARIS

It seemed an excellent opportunity: the confluence of the Men's File crew, a sunny day in Paris, and a million dollars' worth of Brough Superiors.  Nick Clements had brought two models (Spirit of Britain's Simon Delaney and friend) along for atmosphere at the Ralph Lauren/Men's File party the night prior, so we had gents in period dress, motorcycles, and a picturesque spot on the Seine, on the quai under Pont Sully, relatively free of perambulators and bicyclists, and nearly devoid of modern vehicles, having in one direction only the river, the 1800s buildings of Paris, and a series of river barges which a few hardy souls call home.

Along for the ride were some of the RL crew, dressed in their daily Double RL gear, which happened to fit perfectly with the theme of the intended layout for Men's File.  Nick Clements had only planned for a few shots at 9am, but with near perfect conditions and a sudden swell of available men willing to be photographed, it took until noon to begin pushing Broughs into vans, and visiting bikers to roar away.

The revelry from the previous night didn't show on the assembled crew, but your intrepid scribe was certainly feeling the 3am curtain drop, and missed his 9am call to arms...by a couple of hours.  Thankfully the demands of Web-intended 300kb photography are few, and my cheap/trusty/amazing little Sony camera did the job with alacrity.

The bikes assembled included 'Basil' Brough (about whom more later), a JTOR-engined machine built in the 1980s as a sidecar racer (hence the 18" wheels and fat tires), the 'Pendine' SS101J, the TE Lawrence replica, and a 1926 SS100 built around an original engine, which Mark Upham has recently re-purchased from a genial Belgian...it seems Mark has attachment issues with 'Hundreds'.  Well, who wouldn't?

And, as occasional 'test rider' for Brough Superior (an unpaid position, but certainly well compensated), it was an excellent time to test the 'Pendine' over cobblestones and through the assembled throng, between dog walkers and old gents with canes.  Nobody seemed bothered, the police didn't show, and it was good to stretch the legs of the mighty animal.  She handles fine over cobbles, but will work much better on the open stretches and vertiginous banking of a proper 1920s racetrack.  How I would love to pull that throttle lever all the way to the 'bar, and keep it there, and really stretch the legs of this incredibly beautiful beast.  Stay tuned.

MEN'S FILE PARTY AT RALPH LAUREN

While best known in the motoring world for his collection of exquisite cars, Ralph Lauren is one savvy character, and it's merely a matter of time before we see his silver-haired visage at Pebble Beach, standing beside some outrageous two-wheeled acquisition.

The only speculation will be, 'which bike?'... and judging by the recent Men's File magazine party at the flagship RL store on Boulevard St. Germain in Paris, I have a pretty good guess what his first purchase might look like.

As noted in these pages previously, not since the late 1960s have the disparate worlds of motorcycles, fashion, art, photography, publishing, and film/video collided in such a spectacular manner.  There's motion afoot, and two recent parties in completely different parts of the world illustrate my point.  The scene in LA (see my Comune post) has already well integrated the vintage and custom motorcycle scene into the world of 'swimming pools and movie stars'; the Men's File party was a checkered flag planted on new soil, the ultra-chic 6th Arrondissement, right across the street from legendary cafés de Flore and Deux Magots.

The connection between Men's File and the Double RL ('RRL') boutique atop the chez Ralph is a natural, as RRL is the 'vintage'-inspired branch of the Lauren empire...yes I know all RL is 'vintage inspired', and some lines fairly dated and bourgeois, but the man has recognized and seized on the late-capitalist-era desire for 'authenticity' and 'heritage' more successfully than any other company. Sticking true to a uniquely Anglo/preppy aesthetic, he has become the authenticity he sought to create, transforming himself in the process from Ralph Lifshitz, a poor Brooklyn immigrant's son, to the scion of American clothing culture.  Such is his success, and such the state of American culture, that no paradox is seen between the 'heritage branding' of the man and his business, and chimerical creation of that heritage from whisps of air and inspiration....such is his genius, and his exemplification of the uniquely American promise of a renewed identity for any striving individual.

Men's File, having recently pressed its third issue, is treading similar ground to Double RL, exploring the worlds of cars, motorcycles, fashion, surfing, bicycling, et al, from a distincly 'vintage' perspective, in search of the Timeless.  As RL has done, MF is digging through grandfather's trunk to find what is relevant today - and that old fisherman's sweater or Red Wing boots or '66 Triumph still looks pretty damn good.

The photography is exceptional, especially the work of Nick Clements, who has a knack for setting up 'situations' with models and vehicles which have the feel of the past, yet are completely contemporary and use mostly clothing which is available in stores, occasionally even designed/sold by Nick himself.  [As I've been privileged to witness one, I'll dive into a Men's File photo shoot in another post].

If you're reading this, you're interested in exactly what Men's File is offering; it's the best magazine printed today exploring how our 'magnificent obsession' can be contextualized in our modern world.  Shameless plug - support quality publishing!

Now back to the party:  the miracle of the situation was the easy mix between very different worlds, from the bemusement of the ladies from 'bonne familles' shopping for the latest RL fashion, to a horde of 60 bikers who rode in for what was clearly a novel event.  The crowd was international, with visitors from the US, England, and all of Europe. The stars of the evening were the motorcycles, which included a plinth display of Yves J. Hayat's beautiful little Velocette MAC sitting beside what is perhaps my favorite production design of all time, a 1928 Brough Superior 'Pendine' with straight open pipes and no street gear.

Three other Broughs, provided by Mark Upham of Brough Superior, sat outside the RL store, lending heavy-hitter caché to the party, and looking completely at home on the Boulevard with the fancy ladies walking by in their minks.  Even rough-knuckled and staggering 'Basil' Brough, swilling a heady brew of pure alcohol in great gulps through wide open bellmouths.  Basil was built for sidecar racing and wears heavy boots, his brawn held in check by steel straps and bars, like Kong.  The ladies got a secret thrill from his 'gorilla in a tux' demeanor.

As the evening wore on, the street began to fill with the creme of the Parisian vintage bike scene, especially the Triton Club of France, whose members brought out some very impressive machinery.  First to arrive was a proper Triton in green, second a covetable Triumph Thruxton - and I'm not talking about a new one, this looked the proper business, ca. '67.

The atrium of the RL compound, as well as the bar and Ralph's restaurant (yes, a bar and resto at retail...civil!) filled completely with hundreds of revellers, and the store was open to browsers, especially the Double RL salon in the penthouse, which had an exhibit of Nick Clement's photos plus other contributors to the magazine.  The photos of course looked completely at home nestled between vintage horsehide 'D' pocket jackets, reproduced shawl-collar sweaters, and native American jewelry.  In truth, RL should just buy Men's File and make it the coolest 'house media organ' imaginable...but for now, we can treasure MF's independence of vision, and the fact that they feature plenty of interesting suppliers of clothing, gear, bikes, accessories, etc.

Highlight of the evening was the 'forbidden' firing up of the Pendine, its sharp crackling thunder banging on the stucco walls of the great House of Lauren, filling the atrium with liquid sound, rattling the thin glass separating fine cashmere and pearls from the healthy roar of motorcycling Life, declaiming to the full moon itself, 'We are Here'.