Bill Ward was an apprentice at Sentinel Works in Shrewsbury, England, when he, his wife and baby daughter rode his motorcycle and sidecar to visit relatives over the holidays in London.
“Bill says he preferred motorbike and sidecar combinations,” H&H Classics notes in a news release announcing the sale of Ward’s “Shropshire Lad” collection of motorcycle/sidecar combinations at its auction September 2 at Britain’s National Motorbike Museum.
Ward collected those bikes and sidecars over the course of the past three decades.
For many years, he rode a 1962 Panther, which he restored but with the alternator out of line, and on start up the kickback threw him across the driveway and left him with a broken ankle. He soon bought a BMW R69 with electric start.
“Everyone knew his BMW,” said Ward’s daughter, Alison McCarthy. “He won many trophies with all his bikes and was very proud of them. I will be sad to see them sold as it’s been a big part of my life too, but I hope they go to people who will love and cherish them as we have done. “
Also included in the sale are an all-original 1936 Nimbus Model C Sport Combination 750cc with Bender sidecar; a 1962 Panther Model 120 Combination 645cc with Watsonian two-seat sidecar; a 1961 BMW Model R69S Combination 800cc, originally used by Dutch police, with Steib sidecar; a 1957 Ariel Model Square Four Combination 1000cc with Steib sidecar; and a 1936 Austin Seven Pearl cabriolet that Ward drove for 30 years before undertaking its restoration.
