Land speed streamliner shows up on Facebook Marketplace
A land speed motorcycle streamliner, built by an AMA Hall of Famer, is for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
Your commute just got more interesting. A land speed motorcycle streamliner has popped up on Facebook Marketplace, and it can be yours for the low, low price of $20,000 (about £14,730 at current exchange rates).
Although this unique two-wheeler will need a little bit of work before you can start smoking the scooters at Elvington. First and foremost, it needs an engine.
It’s likely, though, that whatever you put in it will be better than what was available when this streamliner was first built - in 1969. According to its Marketplace listing, the streamliner was built by motorcycle racer, magazine editor, and American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Famer Bob Braverman.
UK readers may not recognise Braverman’s name but he was something of an engineering and speed savant. If you ever played with Scaletrix, you have him to thank. In the 1950s, he was hugely influential in the development and popularisation of slot cars.
In the 1960s, he moved from Chicago to Southern California and turned his interest to motorcycles, soon becoming the editor of Cycle Guide magazine, and, later, Cycle Rider, followed by Modern Cycle. He also founded Street Rider and Custom Chopper magazines. Cycle Guide was the only publication with any real longevity (it lasted for 20 years), but you have to admire the guy’s prolific nature.
When he wasn’t running and launching magazines, Braverman was building. He reportedly built this streamliner for a series of features in a magazine. One assumes that magazine to be Cycle Guide; the listing doesn’t actually say. But you’ll get to find out because the streamliner comes with copies of three of the five issues in which it was featured.
The streamliner is being listed by another motorcycle speed legend, Kent Riches. He was the driving force behind the Omega Racer, which became the first electric motorcycle to set a land speed world record.
In addition to finding an engine for this streamliner, you’ll also need to travel to Chula Vista, California, to pick it up.
Random fact: Chula Vista is home to one of the largest Filipino populations in the United States. So, you can pick up a potentially record-breaking streamliner hull and get a burger at Jollibee. Win win.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
