KEY POINTS:
A rare British motorcycle will be the centrepiece of the Classic Motorcycle Festival in Pukekohe this weekend.
The AJS Porcupine E90, from the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum in Britain, is the last of its kind.
"It's a bit like ringing up the Louvre and asking to borrow one of their paintings for the weekend," said Classic Motorcycle vice-president Ken McIntosh.
The Porcupine won the first post-war 500cc grand prix in Europe and has a New Zealand connection: Wanganui rider Rod Coleman was leader of the AJS works team in the 1950s.
The bike was christened the Porcupine because its engine's cooling fins have a series of spikes.
Mr McIntosh said that despite its early success, the model developed a reputation for being unreliable with ignition and carburettor problems.
But failing to finish grand prix in the 1950s was not unusual.
"Back then races weren't made for 40-minute TV programmes. They were often up to two or three hours of high-speed racing. So it took its toll on the bikes."
The E90 racing motorcycles were never sold.
AJS dismantled them when they were no longer used for racing in order to preserve trade secrets.
The last racing Porcupine lived in the museum of motorcycle trial riding legend Sammy Miller for 20 years, gutted of its parts, until he decided to restore it to race trim.
Mr Miller's museum near Southampton contains more than 350 classic motorcycles on display in four galleries. He said it had started out as a casual collection but soon turned into a "hobby gone mad".
Mr McIntosh said the festival had managed to acquire the classic bike, as well as a "priceless" Mike Hailwood Honda 500, through its strong reputation.
He said the festival, at the Pukekohe racing circuit today and tomorrow, had a dual appeal as a temporary museum and as a fiercely competitive racing event.
