Steve McQueen Indian sold at auction

Steve McQueen’s 1934 Indian 750cc Sport Scout

A 1934 Indian 750cc Sport Scout once owned by Hollywood star and motorcycle fanatic Steve McQueen has sold at auction for £59,740 ($A127,000).

That may sound like a lot, but it’s nowhere near the almost $1 million paid for his 1915 Cyclone board tracker in May.

Steve McQueen’s Cyclone

McQueen’s Indian was one of more than 230 motorcycles sold at the annual two-day Bonhams Stafford Sale in the UK at the weekend which realised more than £3.6m ($A7.6m), a record for the sale and the highest grossing motorcycle sale yet in Europe.

On the first day of the auction, the single-owner Lonati Collection of 60 rare motorcycles achieved £1.3m ($A2.8m), with 91% sold.

It also set a new world record for an Indian Four, as the 1930 Indian Model 402 Four Motorcycle Combination smashed its pre-sale estimate, soaring to £97,700 ($A208,000).

On the second day, a pair of Brough Superior 981cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport projects sold for £236,700 ($A504,000) and £259,100 ($A552,000) respectively, and the Olympia Motorcycle Show 1937 Brough Superior 990cc SS100 sold for £208,700 ($A444,400).

1937 Brough Superior 990cc SS100

Former Top Gear presenter James May also attended as several of his motorcycles went under the hammer, including the 1967 Honda CB450 ‘Black Bomber’, selling for £5980 ($A12,700).

Other sale highlights include a 1971 Münch 1,177cc TTS ‘Mammoth’ selling for more than double its top estimate, achieving £85,500 ($A182,000), and a 1932 Rudge 350cc Works Racing Motorcycle selling for £70,940 ($A151,000) which was seven times its top estimate.