'Widowmaker' still up for grabs

In 1957, 16-year-old Elon 'EJ" Potter had a vision: to drop a small-block Chevy V8 into a motorcycle chassis.

That idea not only came to fruition three years later, but he ended up building seven of the multi-cylinder wonders as he became known as the 'Michigan Madman".

The last of those, the 350ci Widowmaker 7, built in 1971, was passed in at auction at a Bonhams event in Las Vegas, which means it's still up for grabs for anyone interested in owning a slice of history. The machine was expected to fetch between $US65,000 and $US85,000.

Of the seven Chevy V8-powered motorcycles built by Potter, the first three were named Bloody Mary, while the last four were named Widowmaker in recognition of his change in marital status. His first effort, Bloody Mary 1, was powered by a carburetor-fed V8, mounted transversely in the frame. Attempts to rig a clutch assembly from a Harley-Davidson drum brake proved less than successful, so Potter worked around this by building a direct chain drive.

That made launches interesting, to say the least. With the rear wheel suspended by a stand, Potter would rev the machine to 6000rpm and then rock the bike off the stand before holding on for dear life. Rear tyres would only last for three runs before replacement was necessary. To no-one's surprise, Potter ventured out on the exhibition circuit with his act and made plenty of bucks –including in Australia.

The Widowmaker 7 was reportedly certified as “The World’s Fastest Motorcycle” by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1973, and along the way Potter picked up a trio of AHRA records. His fastest pass on number 7 was a run of 8.68 seconds at 172mph.