This August, at Pebble Beach Car Week in California, what many consider the most valuable motorcycle on planet Earth will be auctioned off. This iconic machine is expected to cross the block for around $750,000; if it does, the AJS E95 Porcupine becomes the most expensive motorcycle ever.
AJS E95 Porcupine History
The first AJS to be dubbed the “Porcupine” was the Type E90; it was named so due to the unique spiked cooling fins on the cylinder head (which it lost in 1951). The E90 model was first raced in 1947 at the Isle of Man TT by Les Graham and Jock West, who finished in 9th and 14th place, respectively. Graham wasn’t done with the Porcupine yet as two years later he finally took it to the top spot on the podium by winning the Blue Riband Class of the 1949 FIM World Championship Grand Prix in its inaugural season.
AJS introduced the first E95 version of the Porcupine in 1952. This engine had a different configuration from the previous layout and it required a new frame be adopted. Under many talented riders, and through many Grand Prix events, the bike was honed and perfected. Many of the original designs had to be radically altered due to failures in competition; a new magneto drive was designed, a new fuel tank was developed which extended down the side of the bike pannier-style (which gives the Porcupine its distinctive look), a lower sitting frame built and an AC fuel-pump was added near the end of development.
The final year for the AJS E95 Porcupine was also the final year AJS competed in the FIM Grand Prix series. That was 1954, and riders Bob McIntyre, Derek Farrant and Rod Coleman all took the AJS bike to the Grand Prix circuits. Of those, Coleman was the one who brought in its best results that year, coming in second at the Ulster GP and winning in Sweden. And, that was it. In the final telling, AJS produced only four complete E95 Porcupines, and one or two spare engines. All were factory works bikes and were never sold to the public, with the notable exception of the one used by privateer Tom Arter.
This Particular Porcupine
The AJS E95 Porcupine to be sold this year spent the past two decades sitting in the National Motorcycle Museum in Coventry, U.K. The engine in that machine was thoroughly restored by Team Obsolete recently, so it is up to the same running standard as during its GP heyday. Even a quick look at a photo reveals the condition of the bike to be superior to when first raced, but a close examination in person is truly the only way to fully appreciate the beauty of this exotic and exceedingly rare motorcycle.
A previous auction for one of these AJS E95 Porcupine motorcycles, which sold at Bonhams with its CEO, Malcolm Barber, handling the sale, was the model raced by Arter. That was back in 2000, eleven long years ago, and it went home with the new owner whose bank account slimmed down a bit thanks to the $258,500 selling price. That set a new world record for British made motorcycle.
AJS Porcupine Sets Record?
Currently holding the auction record for highest price is the 1929 Brough Superior SS100 which old for £286,000 in 2010, or around $450,188 at the time. Considering the estimate here, there is little doubt that the August auction in California will establish a new world record for a British made bike, and it is likely to set the world record for any motorcycle sold under the hammer. The AJS E95 Porcupine will then prove itself as the planet’s most valuable motorcycle.
