1. 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine
The 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine – one of Top 10 Most Expensive in the world, is a British racing motorcycle that is highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. Here are some things to know about this iconic bike:
- Design: The Porcupine gets its name from the distinctive shape of its cylinder head, which is covered in fins resembling a porcupine’s quills. The bike was designed by engine tuner Phil Walker and built by AJS (Associated Motor Cycles) specifically for racing.
- Engine: The Porcupine’s engine is a unique, twin-cylinder, DOHC (double overhead camshaft) design that produces around 40 horsepower at 7,800 rpm. It has a displacement of 498cc and features a dry sump lubrication system.
- Racing history: The AJS Porcupine was highly successful on the racing circuit, winning the 1949 and 1950 500cc World Championships with rider Leslie Graham. The bike’s success cemented its place in motorcycle racing history.
- Rarity: Only four Porcupines were ever built, making it one of the rarest and most valuable motorcycles in the world. One of the original four Porcupines is currently on display at the National Motorcycle Museum in England.
- Value: Due to its rarity and racing heritage, the Porcupine is highly sought after by collectors and can fetch prices in the millions of dollars at auction.
Overall, the 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine is an iconic racing motorcycle with a unique design and a rich history in motorcycle racing.
Read More:
2. Auction 1949 E90 AJS Porcupine
Many motorcycle manufacturers have come to the negotiating table with ideas they think are great. However, it’s a matter of time. How many times have you talked about a bike that is now a cult classic, but it seems to have languished in showrooms when it was new? All the right elements must come together to make a motorcycle successful—otherwise, you’ll end up just curious about the annals of motorcycle history.
Arguably one of the biggest curiosities in our small niche is about to be auctioned off at the Bonhams Summer Sale 2021, which runs from July 2 to 4, 2021 in the District. Staffordshire County exhibition in England. It was an AJS E90 Porcupine Grand Prix race car from the 1940s and never made it past the auction round. Only four E90 Porcupines and four E95 Porcupines (later) are known to have ever been built by AJS. According to Bonhams, to date, only two other E95 Hedgehogs have ever been publicly offered. This marks the first E90 to do so.
Read More:
A brief version of this bike’s remarkable history is: An E90 won the first ever FIM 500cc World Championship in 1949. AJS Works riders were Les Graham and Ted Frend—who later owned the car for auction until his death in 2006—drives hard, but faces challenges both driver and mechanical throughout the season. . Graham went on to win that inaugural GP 500cc world championship with a single point, on a 497cc, twin-cylinder E90 Porcupine. Is it this? No one knows for sure, as AJS racing records have since been destroyed.
All in all, the story of the AJS Hedgehog’s development could be even more intriguing. Dreamed of during World War II, the original plan was a supercharged E90. It was originally called the Hedgehog because of the sharpness of the fins between the engine’s cams, as you’ll see in the photos. Although that design was later changed and there were more conventional fins on the E95, the name remained the same — unlike the supercharged concept for it.
The post-war rules changed everything and although British GP teams continued to race, they did so with more restrictions than originally planned. Cycle World did an excellent in-depth look at how Porcupine has been designed entirely with supercharging in mind, which is part of the reason why it didn’t perform as well as the team had hoped when they removed the supercharger. of the equation. It also adds to the important tidbit of racing history that shortly after AJS claimed its first and only GP title, Norton went on to introduce the Featherbed frame that would strengthen the brand’s racing prowess. Timing is really all in the race—and perhaps more than you might realize years later.
In any case, this particular AJS E90 Porcupine belonged to Ted Frend and was split into pieces as part of his estate upon his death in 2006. Frend’s friend and neighbor Ken Senior received it. all parts, as well as other assets related to Frend’s motorcycle. This includes Frend’s TT titles, which are also part of this Bonhams sale. He presided over the complete rebuild of this Porcupine, including commissioning custom parts to replace any missing parts.
This one-of-a-kind and possibly once-in-a-lifetime piece of British racing history is expected to cost between £250,000 and £300,000, or about $350,000 to $410,000. The Bonhams Summer Sale runs from July 2 to 6, 2021.
All information above is referenced from Top10theworld.com