The 1949 Triumph Trophy TR5 used by The Fonz in the TV series Happy Days is up for auction, along with one of the characters leather jackets. The three-day, multimillion-dollar auction, hosted in California by Profiles in History will run from September 29 to October 1.
The Triumph was provided to the studio by none other than Bud Ekins, former stuntman, motorcycle racer and the man who supplied most of the motorcycles to the Hollywood studios. Ekins was contacted by the show and asked to provide a bike that would be as cool as the character riding it, or rather being pushed on it as Henry Winkler (The Fonz) couldn’t actually ride a motorcycle and had to be pushed on and off the set by stagehands.
In order to achieve the look they were going for, Ekins removed the front fender, changed out the handlebars for a set of swept-back, Harley-Davidson style bars and painted the tank silver. This ’49 Triumph custom is one of three Triumphs used during the shows ten years, and it’s also the same model ridden by Marlon Brando’s character in The Wild One.
The estimated sale price of the bike and jacket should easily reach six-figures so if you’ve got some money to burn and always wanted to be as cool as Arthur Fonzarelli, here’s your chance.
