Description
This motorcycle is Lot 48 to be auctioned by Bonhams at the Timed-Online January Sale, please see the Bonhams website for full details. The timed online auction runs between January 17th through January 27th, with lots closing from midday January 27th 2025.
Public Viewing:
Available 22nd January 2025 from 09:00 until 17:00, by appointment only at Bonhams Milton Keynes.
Lot 48
Offered from a deceased's estate
1954 Panther 250cc Model 65 Project
Registration no. HJG 917
Frame no. F8233
Engine no. 54JS413B
Panther first used vertical power units in 1948 for its 250cc and 350cc trials models, which unlike the firm's traditional, large-capacity roadsters eschewed the stressed-member, sloping-engine layout in favour of a conventional tubular frame, an arrangement adopted by the equivalent roadsters in 1949. The overhead-valve engine contained its dry-sump oil tank within the crankcase in Panther's traditional fashion and was unusual in employing plain bush main bearings. A Dowty Oleomatic front fork was fitted and the Models 65 (250) and 75 (350) retained a rigid frame. For 1953 there was a new swinging-arm frame and a conventional telescopic fork, and in this form the smaller Panthers lasted until the early 1960s, the company's representation in the lightweight category being exclusively Villiers-powered thereafter.
First registered on 24th March 1954, this Model 65 Panther was purchased by its late owner from a Mr Chapman of Maidstone in 1977. Incomplete, the machine is offered for restoration and sold strictly as viewed (the engine turns over). Accompanying paperwork consists of an old-style continuation logbook (issued 1977) and an old-style V5 registration document. It should be noted that the latter incorrectly records the engine number as '5455413B'.
All lots are sold 'as is/ where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams Motorcycles website for all pertinent auction information.
