![]() “Some of them come with pictures of the kid next to the Christmas tree, and some have the original receipt with them showing how much they paid down at Halfords.” Also, since they were handmade in Raleigh’s Nottingham factory, the odd ‘Friday afternoon job’ with upside-down stickers sometimes crops up too. The cult of Chopper even has its own creation myth: the late Raleigh designer Alan Oakley, flying back from a research trip to the US to see the Chopper’s pre-cursor, the Schwinn Stingray, famously sketched designs for the first prototype on the back of an airmail envelope. Raleigh made three ‘marks’ but hundreds of different options three, five and 10-speeds dropped handlebars and a few rarities where the factory had to shift old stock and blended old parts with new. Part of the appeal of collecting Choppers comes down to their sheer variety. I did a deal with a guy in America, for nine MkIIs and four MkIs for the bike.” “The most I paid for one was for a 10-speed, brand spanking new. “The most expensive I’ve seen went for over £7,000 and that was a boxed MkI 10-speed still wrapped up in its box,” Sykes adds. The Mk2 Raleigh Chopper, lot 459, was sold in Hansons Auctioneers June 25 Toy Auction. The one we are selling, in amazing condition given its age, is extra special because, inevitably, these bikes were so well-loved and well-used many didn’t survive or, if they did, they weren’t in great shape.” Mr Fulford said: “Whoever played their part in creating the Chopper it was a stroke of genius. The Chopper was designed in response to the Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle first manufactured in 1963. ![]() However, its design has sparked debate with claims made by both Tom Karen of Ogle Design and Alan Oakley of Raleigh. The Chopper, manufactured by Nottingham’s Raleigh Bicycle Company, stood out in the 1970s because of its ground-breaking good looks. In 1973 a Mk2 Raleigh Chopper cost around £34 – equivalent to around £361 in today’s money.” “Such is the power of childhood nostalgia a good vintage Chopper is now worth more than its original retail price. It was the coolest of bicycles and great for doing wheelies. The design, influenced by dragsters and ‘chopped’ motorcycles, was so popular Raleigh sold over 1.5 million of them. Steve Fulford, toy valuer at Hansons, said: “These days kids crave the latest smart phones but if you grew up in the 1970s there was only one thing any self-respecting youngster wanted – a Raleigh Chopper. The other, in need of some restoration, had a guide price of £250-£350. The top-notch bike includes accessories, speedo, lamps and mirrors and is one of two Mk2 Choppers being sold by the same vendor. I’m only parting with it now because I need to thin out my collections.” ![]() I bought it eight years ago but I really had to persuade the owner to sell it. But when you got there they were never as good as described. You could travel the length and breadth of the country for years and never come across a vintage Raleigh Chopper as good as this one. The 54-year-old seller, who owned a Chopper as a child, said: “He’d kept it in his bedroom for years and said it had never been ridden. ![]() ![]() Its Derby owner, a keen toy collector who wishes to remain anonymous, bought it from a Leicestershire man seven years ago. The iconic MK2 Chopper, which is in ‘amazing condition’ given its age, went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on June 25 with a guide price of £400-£600 – but sold for £1,250. A vintage 1970s Raleigh Chopper bicycle soared to success at auction to sell for double its estimate. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |