Auction house H&H is striding into its 30th year following a £1.5m/90% sell-through classic bike sale at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on 7 December. Highlights included three Lambrettas (a 1963, and two 1971, 200cc models) making more than £20,000, a 1973 MV 750S taking top billing at £101,240, including all charges, and Japanese entries outnumbering British.
H&H has established itself as the leading classic scooter saleroom over the past year. The touch paper was lit in October 2021 when H&H’s classic bike specialist Mike Davis consigned a down-at-heel project 1964 Lambretta GT200. Estimated at £3000-£4000 it made £23,000. As a result of this sensation, enthusiast Paul Diamond contacted H&H offering his services as scooter specialist. Since then, classic scooter content has grown. In December 58 scooters were offered.
Walking into the main sales hall, bidders were struck by the ranks of Japanese bikes on offer, 24 of them from now closed West Motorcycles of Manchester. Members of the West family, one of Manchester’s longest established dealers, were in attendance. Many of the bikes were new old stock, some still in crates.
Of the 291 total lots offered 96 were Japanese, 82 Italian and 81 British. This can be seen as evidence of the growing weight being pulled by the Orient.
Will H&H be indulging in a 30th birthday party this year? “No,” says MD Colette McKay, “We want to consolidate.” This firm statement is a result of H&H being handed over to its staff by co-founder Simon Hope in December 2021 (see BDN January 2022). Since then staff have been rising to the challenge. Davis, an enthusiast for pre-war bikes, is optimistic. He and colleague Ian Cunningham are hoping to bring various collections to the stage in 2023. They are pleased with an average 86% sales rate over the past two years, and expect even better this year.