Set your sails for Villa Erba if you want to bag the great ‘Moby Dick’

Along the shores of Lake Como, one of very few bodies of water Captain Ahab and his crew neglected to sail in search of their formidable foe, RM Sotheby’s will be offering for sale this 1938 Brough Superior SS100 ‘Moby Dick’ — a beast of an entirely different nature…

Monstrous motorbike

Although not the great white whale of literary infamy, this 1938 Brough Superior SS100 is still a formidable monster. With a specially tuned engine by J.A. Prestwich (more commonly known as JAP) and George Brough himself, the two-wheeled beast’s 1,140cc engine can produce over 65hp (21hp over the standard engine) and a top speed of 115 mph, earning its monstrous nickname of ‘Moby Dick’ from automotive journalist Dennis May. After years of being raced and then hidden away during wars, the Brough was brought back to life after a restoration in 1997, and it’s still just as ominous and menacing today.

Along with the great ‘Moby Dick’, there will be four additional motorbikes on offer from the British manufacturer, including the 2011 Brough Superior SS100 750, known as ‘Baby Pendine’, which set FIM World Records in both miles and kilometres at the 2013 Bonneville Speed Trials. While each bike from the RM Sotheby’s Moto-Icons: Café Racer to the Superbike collection is sure to be an accomplished conquest, we’ll be interested to see who will gain mastery over the ever-elusive and all-encompassing ‘Moby Dick’ when it crosses the block on 27 May…