Brough Superior SS100

George Brough built the SS100 in Nottingham from 1924 as the machine he wanted to ride, and a journalist's phrase, "the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles," stuck because the finish backed it up. The engineering underneath was largely conventional; the long, low stance, the big V-twin and the deep, rounded tank were what made it look like nothing else on the road. Its fame owes as much to its owners as its lines. T. E. Lawrence was killed on an SS100 in 1935 after swerving to avoid two boys on bicycles. Treat it as the early proof that a motorcycle could be sold on craft and presence rather than novelty.