Title

Brough Superior SS100 1925 Prototype Alpine Grand Sport

Engine: KTOR/A 37658
FRAME: 801A
Brough won the 8-day 1925 Austrian Speed Trials on this machine, which was prepared by Chief

Engineer Harold "Oily" Karslake specifically for high speed competition in the Austrian Alps. Brough's Alpine
Grand Sport was built with large Rexine panniers for overnight gear, two tool bags below, and tuned for
competition at altitude.
It features a Bonniksen time and trip speedometer, and is longer and lower than the standard SS 100.

This bike is extensively documented. Provenance includes a letter from Karslake; Brough's International Travelling Pass issued for the Austrian Trials by the Royal Automobile Club, London, June 8, 1925;
and a letter of certification from Mike Leatherdale, Machine Registrar, Brough Superior Club, UK.

There are also multiple period photographs of George Brough on the
bike, including at speed in the Austrian trials. His success led to the Austrian market becoming the second largest for Brough Superior from 1924 until production ceased in 1940.

Brough kept this Alpine Grand Sport as his own bike for a year. He won the London-to-Edinburgh Trial in May 1925, then lent it to J P "Neon" Castley who won the London to-Exeter Trial in December.

Brough won the Victory Cup Trial himself on the same bike in March 1926, then sold it to Prince R. Chagla in India.

The present keeper has owned the Prototype Alpine Grand Sport for 25 years.

Brough Superiors were described by contemporary journalist H D Teague as "The Rolls Royce of motorcycles"
but a better comparison might have been W O Bentley's thundering Le Mans-winning race cars.

Not only are the polished "bulbous nose" gas tank and flyscreen as recognizable as the huge grille of a "blower" Bentley, but the 1,000cc V-twin Brough Superior SS 100 was guaranteed to do 100 mph.