The late Motor Magazine journalist John Anstice-Brown, born in 1934, was a huge enthusiast for the Douglas motorcycle and built a collection. Ten of them are now being sold by H&H Classics on 30 July at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.
Besides collecting Douglas bikes, Anstice-Brown’s hobbies included motor racing and in 1972 he was British GT Champion.
He stored his motorbike collection in his shed in Hitchin, Herts, in various states of disrepair when he tired of biking. After his death the family took them out and discovered that they had a big collection of Douglas models, most not thought still to exist, according to the Douglas Owners Club machine register.
Mark Bryan of H&H Classics Motorcycle Department, said: “It is people like John Anstice-Brown who embody the true passion of the collector. It is thanks to his work on saving Douglas bikes that we are able today to rediscover some machines that had slipped off the radar. This sale provides a golden opportunity to acquire one of these Douglas rarities.”
Some of the notable bikes include some Douglas DT race bikes and a very rare TT replica. All are being sold at no reserve.
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907–1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family. The marque was especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined bikes and as manufacturers of speedway machine.
Pictured are a 1927 Douglas Model SB27 combination (£5000 -£8000) and, above, a c.1926 Douglas TT Replica