A special custom bike created for Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog game and donated to support the Luca Guintoli Foundation raised an astonishing £210,000 when sold at auction on Sunday.
While shortly afterwards an ultra-rare Brough Superior SS100 sold for an even higher £327,750, including buyer’s premium.
The two machines were the stars of the Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale, part of the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at the Stafford County Showground, which also included autojumbles, club displays, trade stands and celebrities including race stars James Whitham and Niall Mackenzie.
The Sonic-inspired machine had been donated by Sega and its hugely successful sale brought thunderous applause from auction attendees and tears from Luca’s mum, Caroline, who was present along with the whole Guintoli family.
Sylvain Guintoli told MCN he was in shock after the sale result, saying: “On behalf on my family and The Luca Guintoli Foundation I would like to thank everybody involved in making this happen, in particular SEGA, Bonhams, RST and MotoGP. It’s been an emotional journey, thank you.”
The Luca Guintoli Foundation was set up in 2025 by former WorldSBK Champion Sylvain Guintoli and wife Caroline in memory of their six-year-old son, Luca, a big Sonic the Hedgehog fan, who passed away from an aggressive form of cancer in July of that year.
Sylvain also famously ran the 2026 London Marathon earlier this year in full Sonic the Hedgehog-themed race leathers, raising over £150,000 for the Foundation, which aims to fund medical research into childhood cancer.
The bike itself is called ‘Dark Rider – Year of the Shadow’, is a 2000 Bourget custom and was only estimated to sell for £10-15,000.
But after a determined battle between two bidders, the successful buyer was self-confessed Sonic superfan Michael Stanback of Nashville, USA, who travelled to Stafford especially for the sale.
He told MCN afterwards that the opportunity to buy such props almost never happened and after also hearing of the family’s story felt compelled to try to buy the bike and take it back to the US to put it on display.
“I got to speak to Sylvain for the first time today and there’s not a better guy for this. He’s the guy.”
The Brough, meanwhile, became the most valuable classic of its type sold in recent years. It’s a 1930 SS100 Alpine Grand Sports which was only expected to sell for an estimated £160-220,000 but when the hammer fell peaked at £285,000, climbing to £327,750 including fees.
What an incredible result to see this bike selling for almost 15 times its upper estimate. The bike is going on display back in America, too, so it won’t disappear into a private collection and hopefully some more people will hear of the charity and what it does as a result. The Foundation also has a new website where you can donate.