Indians for Christmas

Those of you who follow my blog know that I have another life, with motor vehicles. Every now and then, I am asked to appraise collectible cars, boats and motorcycles. A few weeks ago, I was asked to appraise the Indian Motorcycle collection that was recently donated to the Springfield Museums, on Edwards Street in our city.

The Indian collection was amassed over a 40-year period by Charles and Estha Manthos. They kept the Indians in a building that was part of the former factory complex on Hendee Street, less than 1,000 feet from my company, Robison Service.



The collection is the largest of its kind in the world. Here are some of the bikes you'll see if you visit us when it's open, in January 2009 . . .



There are a number of famous motorbikes, inclubing this oval tack racer from Freddie Marsh

Here's one of the famous Indian V-twin engines

Few people have ever seen the Indian cars. Here's one of the only extant prototypes



The Scount was one of Indian's most successful models

You can still see Indian style in today's retro designs.

Prior to the late fifties, gears were shifted by a lever on the right side of the tank

Here's a closeup of one of the carburetors

Stay tuned for more images, and check the museum calendar at http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/