On January 12, 2012, an Indian Camelback bicycle, produced 105 years ago, was scheduled to be auctioned at Bonhams auction house in Las Vegas, USA. Despite being completely rusted and unusable, the 100-year-old bicycle’s value remains unaffected. With a starting bid of £50,000 (about 500,000 RMB), it is optimistically expected to fetch an even higher final price.
The century-old bicycle was manufactured in 1906 and is one of the earliest models of two-wheeled bicycles in the world. At the time, fewer than 1,700 units were produced globally, and only a few surviving examples are now treasured by collectors. Since it has never undergone major repairs, the upcoming auction item is highly appealing to collectors and serves as an excellent model for the study of bicycle construction. The bicycle is equipped with a simple single-cylinder engine, capable of reaching a top speed of 50 km/h. It is said that the last time someone rode this bike was back in the 1970s.