Posted on 01/28/2019 2:15:29 PM PST by Red Badger
Dont judge a book by its cover. Especially when that book is a scrapyard.
One of the most incredible collections of vintage Indian motorcycles and memorabilia was recently discovered on the property of RJ&C Metal Fabricators in Phoenix, after its owner Rickey Jensen passed away.
There, in a locked shed behind the stacks of barrels, beams, random machinery and broken down cars were 15 Indian motorcycles, several of the brands bicycles and dozens of signs, clocks and promotional items.
According to Mecum Auctions, Jensen mostly kept it a secret, and only one or two other people had ever even known about it. But now the world does.
All of the bikes and most of the collection sold for well over $500,000 combined at the Mecum Las Vegas event on Thursday night, where it was the star of the show. But a few of the knickknacks are still available, including several Indian wall clocks and a Chief Scooting Star childrens scooter.
Among the treasures that found new homes were a rare 1908 Single Camelback that sold for $82,500, a 1929 Ace Four that went for $88,000 and a red and white 1941 Four that brought the hammer down at $71,500.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Motorcycle ping!..................
I thought this was going to about Royal Enfields,
YOU CAN SEE THE ENTIRE COLLECTION HERE:
I hope the dude from Pickers was allowed to bid.
The war ended before the were shipped, so they just dumped them in the pit, crates and all.
That's the story anyway.
Probably a wee bit out of his price range.................
Never heard that one!..............................
The Pickers, Mike and Frank, are wealthy.
How did the American Pickers miss out on this? Seems like nothing gives those guys a charge like Indian Motorcycle gear...
I did a quick search but didn’t find anything. Other than realizing they would have been Harley Davidsons, not Indians. (IIRC they were also rumored to have sidecars as well.)
Might be true. It was guys in the motor pool telling me about it. Of course it might have started out when some 18-year old newbie back in 1949 was complaining about how boring things were, and his boss in the motor pool told him the yarn.
“Yep - in the fall of ‘45 we just dumped them in. A guy with a shovel could probably still find them. I’m guessing the pit was about even with the north end of Hangar B, and pretty close to the woods.”
They are from Iowa.
This was in Phoenix..................
I think the evidence says the original owner highly prized his secret stash and didn’t see any value in sharing it with many people. Letting Mecum handle it probably got all the best bidders in the room to get max $$$ for the estate.
Snipe hunting..................
I don’t think they are THAT wealthy.................
What if the come from India?................
Sub-continent Asian?
Mike is worth 4 million and Frank is worth 3 million.
Thanks for the link with all the interesting stuff. It left me wondering how much some of those small lots of memorabilia/trinkets resulted in for bids. It would have been exciting to be a bidder on those.
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