2020 Las Vegas auctions
Auction houses Mecum and Bonhams are busy preparing for the 2020 Las Vegas motorcycle auctions.
Mecum will return with another massive portfolio of bikes, with a reported 1,750 machines scheduled to go under the hammer during their six-day mega-auction, Jan. 21-26, at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. Headlining the Mecum auction are eight individual collections, including The Hamilton Triumph Collection, The Stephen Ross Estate Collection, The Northwest 100 and more. The Northwest 100 is a particularly interesting group of 100 rare and desirable vintage Honda motorcycles, collected over the years by Brown. M. Maloney. Nearly all of the 100 bikes are in top, unrestored condition.
Also on auction will be the famous “Greenie” 1940 Harley-Davidson EL Knucklehead. Formerly part of the Wayne “Pappy” Pierce collection, it’s lauded as arguably the finest original paint 1940 Knucklehead in the world. Once thought to be an incorrect or customized bike, the current owner searched for a year and a half to gather the original documentation to prove that it is an original machine, ordered from the factory with Hollywood Green paint, nickel plating instead of chrome, and other extras.
Bonhams’ one-day auction takes place at noon on Thursday, Jan. 23, at a new location this year: Caesars Entertainment Studios, located behind Bally’s, just off the famous strip. This new location offers more space and better accessibility than its prior location, along with plenty of parking. As always, an impressive selection of collectors’ motorcycles of every vintage is expected to be offered at this internationally attended sale.
“If there was ever an auction at which to offer the world’s best motorcycles, this is it,” says Craig Mallery, Bonhams Motorcycle Specialist. “It was here in Las Vegas where we set the world auction record for the most valuable motorcycle ever sold — the 1951 Vincent Black Lightning for nearly $1 million.”
Bonhams is also excited to announce a new member of the West Coast Motorcycle Department, Mathieu Guyot-Sionnest. A native of Paris, France, and a lifelong motoring aficionado, Mathieu is a classic car and motorcycle racer, racing with AHRMA and WERA.
