The one-off factory Honda RC173 that Mike Hailwood rode to the 1966 350cc World Championship is set to cross the block at the NEC Classic Motor Show in November, with an estimate of £750,000–£950,000 — a once-in-a-generation chance to own a true works Grand Prix machine.
For classic and vintage enthusiasts, few names carry the weight of Mike “The Bike” Hailwood. Nine world titles, 76 Grand Prix wins, 14 Isle of Man TTs, and that famous 1978 Ducati comeback at the age of 38. Now one of the machines that helped define his legend is coming back into public view — and onto the open market.
Iconic Auctioneers will offer Hailwood’s works Honda RC173 at its Iconic Motorcycle Sale during the NEC Classic Motor Show in Birmingham on Sunday 15 November 2026. Honda built the bike specifically for Hailwood’s 350cc campaign. It is the only one of its kind, and the auction estimate of £750,000 to £950,000 (well over a million Australian dollars) reflects how rarely machinery of this provenance appears for sale.
The bike that beat Ago
The RC173 is a 349cc air-cooled DOHC inline-four — over 61 horsepower at 13,500 rpm, four Keihin carburettors, six-speed gearbox and a dry clutch. In 1966 Hailwood used it to win the West German, French, Dutch, Czechoslovakian, Finnish and Ulster Grands Prix, collecting fastest laps along the way and finishing the season ahead of Giacomo Agostini’s MV Agusta and Renzo Pasolini.
For anyone who grew up on stories of the four-stroke versus Agostini’s MV, or who still parks a Honda twin next to a British single in the shed, this is the real article: a factory tool from the era when Honda’s Grand Prix effort was rewriting what a racing motorcycle could be.
Where it has been since ’66
Hailwood kept the RC173 at the end of the season and raced it again in 1967 at invitation meetings including Mallory Park and Oulton Park. It later joined the Wheatcroft Donington Collection. After Hailwood’s death in a road accident in 1981, his family sold the bike at auction in 1997 to the current owner, who returned it to running order and showed it at UK events.
In 2005 it was loaned to the Honda Collection Hall at Motegi, where Honda completed a full chassis and engine rebuild. It returned to Britain in 2006 with its original matching engine and frame numbers intact — the sort of detail that makes collectors sit up straight.
Today the bike is in running order and comes with a package that classic owners will appreciate: special tools, the original set of carburettor jets, the original stand, a later stand Honda made while the machine was at the factory, plus period documentation including the 1997 Coys catalogue and material from the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Mark Bryan of Iconic Auctioneers put it plainly: works racing motorcycles of this importance very rarely come to market, and this one stayed tied to Hailwood’s story from the day Honda built it for him.
Same sale, more Isle of Man history
The November NEC sale is shaping up as a significant day for racing heritage. Also listed is Joey Dunlop’s purple Vimto Honda SP-1 — the machine he rode to Formula 1 TT victory in 2000, in what became his final TT meeting — estimated at £80,000–£100,000. For classic fans who still talk about the Mountain Course over a cuppa, that lot alone would fill a meeting agenda.
Why it matters for club members
Auction headlines like this are more than price tags. They remind us why we keep older bikes on the road: provenance, engineering from another age, and the riders who made them famous. Whether your own machine is a restored British twin, an unrestored Japanese classic, or a project still under a dusty cover, Hailwood’s RC173 is a reminder of how deep the roots of our hobby run — and how carefully the best examples are still looked after.
The NEC Classic Motor Show runs 13–15 November 2026. The Iconic Motorcycle Sale starts at 11am on the Sunday. Registration for bidding is open via Iconic Auctioneers.
Read more
- Classic Bike Hub: Hailwood’s 1966 works Honda RC173 offered by Iconic Auctioneers
- Ultimate Motorcycling: Mike Hailwood’s 1966 Honda RC173 heads to auction
- IOM Today: Joey Dunlop TT machine also up for grabs at the same sale
- Iconic Auctioneers
Photo: Hailwood’s 1966 Honda RC173 (via Ultimate Motorcycling). Credit the original source if you project or reprint this.