The $310,000 Fixxer-Upper
THE $310,000 FIXXER-UPPER
The bluest of blue-chip collector bikes? If the results of an April auction are any indication, you’re lookin’ at it, an older-restoration 1907 HarleyDavidson that hammered down at a staggering $310,000, a world record for any bike at auction. Looking very much like the original 1903 Harley, the “strap-tank” Single (for the bands holding the fuel tank to the frame) displaces 440cc and originally sold for $210. Its new owner is Otis Chandler, former publisher of the Los Angeles Times (his greatgrandfather founded the paper in 1882), now an avid collector of classic cars and mostly pre-1916 motorcycles-but including modern rides like a Gurney Alligator, Bostrom-replica Ducati, tweaked Hayabusa and KTM 660 Rallye-displayed at his Vintage Museum in Oxnard, California. Responding to criticism from some in the collector community that he overpaid by as much as $100,000 for the Harley, Chandler says without a touch of buyer’s remorse, “I’m 75 and I’ve got the money-what am I going to do, wait until I’m 80?” In fact, he’s lavishing even more jingle on the old strap-tanker. Two days after taking delivery, Chandler deemed the bike “tired-looking” and sent it to master restorer Steve Huntzinger for a no-expensesspared makeover.
-David Edwards
