1965 MV Agusta grand prix bike sells for nearly £1 million at Stafford auction

Nearly a million quid. For a motorcycle. Let that sit for a second.

The ex-works 1965 MV Agusta four-cylinder – a bike that Bonhams believes was raced by Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini, or quite possibly both during the 1965 season, sold for £967,000 at the Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale on Saturday 25 April. The estimate was £160,000 to £220,000. It didn’t hang about.

The full racing history isn’t documented, which is part of what makes it such an intriguing piece. What is known is that it contested a season that ended up being one of the most significant in 500cc history. Hailwood took the title that year with eight wins, seeing off team-mate Agostini in the process, only for Ago to then go on and win seven consecutive 500cc crowns straight after. That was Hailwood’s last title in the class.

The bike’s story doesn’t end on the circuit, either. In 1986, John Surtees bought it directly from MV Agusta and used it for parade laps and demonstrations across Europe and New Zealand. It stayed with Surtees until 2005, then passed to one further owner before landing on the Bonhams rostrum last weekend.

Three names on one motorcycle – Hailwood, Agostini, Surtees. It’s the kind of provenance that doesn’t come up twice.

It wasn’t the only machine to blow its estimate out of the water at Stafford, either. Barry Sheene’s 1977 Suzuki RG500 XR14 – the actual bike he rode across the line to seal his second and final 500cc world title, sold for £506,000 against a guide price of £160,000 to £200,000. It’s one of only two factory RG500s Sheene used in that championship-winning year.

Two bikes, two legends, a combined hammer price of nearly £1.5 million. Not a bad Saturday at Stafford.