Is this restored ex-Mike Hailwood Factory Honda RC173 set to become a £1m bike?
Iconic Auctioneers is set to auction a piece of racing history with this ex-Mike Hailwood Factory Honda RC173, which could sell for £1m.
A fully restored, Factory Honda RC173 raced by Mike Hailwood in the 1960s, will soon go up for sale in the UK. However, it’s set to command a price tag far beyond what you would expect.
According to Iconic Auctioneers, which is the company responsible for selling the ex-Hailwood motorcycle, it could fetch a price anywhere from £750,000 to £950,000.
But it’s not unusual to see a vintage bike, especially one that claimed a Grand Prix title, to sell for more than the estimated price. If that were to happen in this instance, we could be talking about a £1m bike.
Hailwood raced this exact bike to the 1966 350cc world championship, beating Giacomo Agostini in the process.
What makes this bike even more special is that it was built especially for Hailwood, who at the time was also competing in the 250cc and 500cc categories.
Hailwood was victorious at the West German, French, Dutch, Czech, Finnish and Ulster GPs with this bike, which also included setting numerous fastest laps along the way.
Hailwood went on to race the same bike the following year, although this was done as part of invitational race entries at selected events.
Following its journey as a race bike, it then formed part of the Wheatcroft Donington Collection for several years before it was sold at auction in 1997, by the Hailwood family. The bike has stayed with the same UK-based owner since then.
Within the last 30 years the motorcycle has been kept in very good condition, and was fully restored to running order.
The bike has been ridden at selected events and parades during that time, while it was also borrowed by the Honda Collection Hall in Motegi, Japan, where it underwent a full chassis and engine rebuild.
This took place in June 2005, although the changes were made to still retain the original matching engine and frame numbers, before being returned to its current owner.
The bike will now go up for sale, courtesy of Iconic Auctioneers, on Sunday, November 15, at the NEC in Birmingham.
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
