A Brough Superior motorbike, dubbed the “Rolls-Royce of motorcycles”, has set a new world record for the model after it was sold for £315,100.
The 1929 Brough Superior 986cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sports has become the most expensive of its kind to sell at a public auction – surpassing the previous record of £291,200 in 2012.
The motorcycles were built by George Brough at his factory in Haydn Road, Nottingham from 1919 to 1940.
Brough is widely regarded as the inventor of the world’s first superbike and the Superior was made famous by playwright George Bernard Shaw and Lawrence of Arabia.
The latter owned seven of the bikes and died in 1935 riding one he had named George VII.
Of the 3,000 built in Brough’s factory, it is thought there are 1,100 models worldwide that are still on the road.
In 1925, George Brough competed in the Alpine Trial on a SS100 – winning six medals, including Best Performer.
The intense reliability run traversed the vast mountain peaks of European countries such as Croatia and Austria.
Brough took inspiration from his achievements when building the record-breaking Alpine Grand Sports edition of the SS100.
His life was honoured in April by the Sheriff of Nottingham who unveiled two plaques at houses in which he lived.
