E J Cole Collection

March 2015

Steve McQueen | Cyclone | Crocker Big Tank
Flying Merkel  | Big Tank | Mecum Auctions

He's been collecting motorcycles for the best part of a lifetime amassing 220 machines dated between 1901 and 1993. Some say that this is the most diverse and finest collection of American bikes anywhere. And we ain't arguing.

It all goes under the hammer at Mecum's auction in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 20th and 21st March 2015, which is this coming weekend.

Highlights include Steve McQueen's 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer (Lot S57: image immediately above). This bike is carrying an estimate of $650,000 - $750,000.

Meanwhile, Lot S112 is a 1915 Harley Davidson Model 11 (image immediately below). The estimate for this 61-cubic inch machine is $110,000 - $130,000. The bike was offered either as a single-speed chain drive model, or as this 3-speeder, all-chain drive. The paint is the original Renault Grey, and carries most of the original pin striping.

Also in the mix is a 1942 Crocker twin (Lot S69); and Lot S79, a 1911 Flying Merkel Board Track Racer. It's heady stuff, and we've already come over all dizzy. The Flying Merkel is expected to change hands at somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000.

Joseph Merkel built his first motorised bicycle in 1899. He had worked as a railroad engineer's assistant and later as a draughtsman at a company manufacturing steam engines and mill equipment.

He founded his own firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and by 1909 the company was heavily involved in [expensive] racing. The bikes were offered with V-twin engines of either 884cc or 997cc. The top speeds were between 65mph and 75mph (and even higher according to some aficionados). Some of the technology developed by Joseph Merkel found its way into Harley-Davidson and Indian machines of the era. But then as now, cross-pollination was natural and necessary, and there's little doubt that Joseph Merkel got as good as he gave.

Despite building some well-crafted machines and earning a reputation for speed and endurance, the firm had a short lifespan. Within just 15 years it was all over. The final owner of the brand was the Miami Cycle and Manufacturing Company which gave us the bright orange livery and the image we enjoy today. But the full commercial story is complex and beyond the remit of this news item.

Today, the Merkels and [the later] Flying Merkels are evidently highly sought after classics and, largely due to their rarity, command huge prices. If there was any one bike that aptly captured the spirit and the exuberance of the board track age, it's this bike.

▲ 1942 Crocker Big Tank" hemi. This bike is estimated to sell at $300,000 - $350,000. Al Crocker is most famously associated with the address at 1346 Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. That's not where he began. He first worked at the Aurora Machine & Tool Company in Chicago, and later for Indian Motocycle (not Motorcycle, note) Manufacturing Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. Around 72 V-twin Crockers were built, we hear. But the Crocker legend, like all legends, is far bigger than the reality. The world's most desirable bike? For us, it's right up there.

We're advised that some of the motorcycles from the E J Cole Collection have never been seen by the great unwashed public.

But that's about to change when the bikes are sold in Las Vegas in a few days.

Said E J Cole, "If my age hadn't gotten ahead of me, why I'd still be out trying to add to it, but being that I'm 89, I feel like it's time to quit. Here at my place nobody gets to see the bikes and they need to be out where people can enjoy them."

Amen to that.

— The Third Man