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 Wolfe Industrial Auctions,
a company known for industrial equipment auctions, ventured into the
classic car and vintage motorcycle realm this past weekend with the sale
of numerous antique cars and bikes, including what was reported to be
the oldest gas-powered production American-made motorcycle still in
existence.
The bike - a 1903 Indian, serial number 548, which had been owned by
Charles Adler Jr. since the 1950s and made a public showing at Daytona
Bike Week earlier this year - sold for $155,000.
Indian, founded in 1897 as the Hendee Manufacturing Company to
produce bicycles, built its first prototype motorcycle in 1901 and first
sold motorcycles to the public in 1902. However, Steve Rinker, owner of
Buck's Indian, a restoration shop in Romney, West Virginia, said that
most of the limited number of Indians built in the 1902 model year were
disassembled for their parts to be used on 1903 production models. The
bike is thought to pre-date any 1903 Harley-Davidsons, and the low
serial number indicates it was certainly one of the first few 1903
Indians.
Photos courtesy Wolfe Auctions
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