BELIEVED BARRY SHEENE'S 1977 AGV X3000 PROTOTYPE HELMET in b...

Hammer

£2,200

BELIEVED BARRY SHEENE'S 1977 AGV X3000 PROTOTYPE HELMET
in black, red and gold with applied number '7', 'Bob Heath Visors' logos, decorated with trademark 'Donald Duck' emblem and 'Barry Sheene' lettering to rear, with visor and Sheene's trademark cigarette hole, race worn with paint loss throughout.
Footnotes
Please note that this lot was due to be offered by Bonham's as lot 54, 11th December 2020 auction but was withdrawn. The vendor has undertaken extensive research to proof the back history. We have a pdf document available from the vendor that explains its history.

Motorcycling's first superstar, Barry Sheene was twice World Champion in Grand Prix racing's premier 500cc class: in 1975 and 1976. In an international career stretching from 1968 to 1984 he made over 100 Grand Prix starts, securing 52 podium finishes and 23 victories. Barry was unquestionably the most charismatic motorcycle racer of his day. In 1984 Barry retired to Australia with his wife Stephanie and children Sidonie and Freddie; he died in March 2003 from cancer at the age of only 51.
This helmet is an AGV X3000 'Ago' (Giacomo Agostini) design, believed to be a prototype given to Barry Sheene in 1977 to try out in race practice. The helmet is black, red, and gold with an applied 'No.7' on each side. It is decorated with Barry's trademark 'Donald Duck' emblem and 'Barry Sheene' lettering to the rear. There is also Sheene's trademark cigarette hole in the centre of the helmet face bar; the mark left by the tape that covered the hole when Barry was racing rather than smoking is clearly visible. There is the original Bob Heath Visors sticker on the top. (Bob Heath Visors was established in 1970 as manufacturer of quality replacement motorcycle helmet visors by former racer and Bob Heath, and rapidly became the number one specialist replacement-visor company in the UK.)