1928 Saroléa Model 25N/23R Special
No Reserve

Registration No: Un-Registered
Frame No: 1227
MOT: Exempt

• Racing special combining a Saroléa 25N frame and 500cc 23R engine
• Thought to have been raced in period by Hugo Carlsson of the Löfström Saroléa team (possibly the 1929 Swedish T.T. winner)
• Restored for the late Karl Oskarsson and only shown once since completion

• The Road and Race Collection

“Victories, pure victories!” boasted the advertisement placed by Saroléa general agents Bröderna Löfström on the front of the 1929 Swedish TT programme. The Belgian firm of Saroléa had been making motorcycles since 1898, but it really came to the fore after its victories in the 1923 Liège-Nice-Liège and the Belgian Grand Prix. That was the year the Model 23G appeared, which provided the template for several successor models. The Löfström team achieved an outstanding feat in the 1927 TT, when their Saroléas placed first, second and third in the 500cc class, taking the Team Prize. Indeed, they won all the Swedish Motor Club Team Prizes during 1927. They also placed second and third in the Belgian Grand Prix, and won the 1929 Swedish Championship, setting a course record in the process.

This 1928 Model 25N/23R formerly belonged to the late collector Karl Oskarsson. He recorded that the registration certificate (sadly no longer present) named Hugo Carlsson as the first owner from May 14th, 1928. He was employed by the Löfström agency at St. Nygatan 27, Malmö, and ownership passed to his employers on June 6th. Then, it was a standard 350cc Model 25N. Meanwhile, the 500cc Model 23R racing engine 35463 was despatched without a magneto, carburettor or any cycle components to Mr. Petakovit of Budapest on March 27th, 1929. Somehow, it moved to Sweden and ended up in this bike. The story then goes that this was the bike with which Carlsson won the 1929 Swedish TT for Saroléa, riding in Class C, on the Onsala Peninsula on September 15th. Could it, we wonder, also have been the bike which took first prize and a course record in the 1929 Swedish Championship race at Norlingsbergsbacken on August 4th?

We understand it continued to be raced until it was sold on July 17th, 1933, to Carl Helge Offrell. It was modernised during Offrell’s ownership with a clamped mainframe, new mudguards and a saddle tank, and was found dismantled in the 1980s by Leif and Olle Holm. When Oskarsson acquired it, he commissioned a meticulous restoration to 1929 specification by Conny Gummeson, sourcing the correct mainframe and tank. It was used for only one event after its completion, then it was bought from his estate in 2005 by the vendor, who fired it up and reported, “She flies extremely quickly and is every bit as quick as my TT 90 Sunbeam.” Bidders should note that the Saroléa has not been registered with the D.V.L.A. and import duties may be charged upon registration. Recommissioning will be required before use. The history file contains correspondence, some period photos, and a fascinating collection of Swedish Motor Club race programmes spanning 1927 to 1932 (mostly original, some copies).

For more information, please contact:
Mike Davis
mike.davis@handh.co.uk
07718 584217