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Honda CB750-Four
prototype for auction
Likely to set a
new price record for Japanese motorcycles
January 19, 2026, by
Guy 'Guido' Allen
Pics: cb750prototype.com
& Mecum
What is believed to be the sole surviving Honda
CB750-Four prototype will be auctioned by Mecum in the
USA on January 31.
The owner is Vic World, the long-term USA-based owner
of World Motorcycles
– a business which has for decades specialised in building
first-generation CB750-Four K0 sand-cast machines.
He has set up a
website dedicated to this machine, which explains
some of its background. There he clears up some confusion
between this prototype and the four pre-production bikes
sent to the USA for shows and demonstrations. Of the
latter, two are known to survive, one was destroyed and
the fate of the fourth is a mystery.
Those two survivors have changed hands over time, with
the most recent auction results being:
Au$221,000 (US$148,000, GB£111,000, €127,000) for the
blue-green unit in 2014;
and Au$325,000 (US$217,000, GB£162,000, €187,000) for the
gold example in 2018.
There are numerous differences between the prototype and
the pre-production models including:
The seat hinges at the rear;
And the valve cover has 'Honda' cast into it rather than
'OHC750'.
The CB was the test mule used in the USA. Here it's
pictured in Nevada in October 1968.
The machine appeared in only one magazine story, for Cycle Guide in 1969 and it was used for early Honda promotional material.
Mike Hanlon over
at New Atlas suggests the CB750 may break
the US$1 million barrier, adding: "Mecum’s January Las
Vegas Motorcycle Auction is now so important that it sets
the agenda for global collectible motorcycle prices for
the remainder of the year. The very best collectible
motorcycles now routinely travel across oceans every year
to present at Mecum’s annual Mecca-auction and last
year saw someone pay $1.32 million for a Cyclone
V-twin, the one and only time that a motorcycle has sold
for more than US$1 million at public auction."
We can recommend
his story, which carries some useful analysis.
Where will the auction bidding end up? We have what is
thought to be the only surviving prototype of what is
arguably the most influential leisure road bike built
since World War II. You'd think Honda might be a bidder.
Watch this space...
Several early
CB750-Fours are being offered by Mecum
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