2003 MBK 'Jaguar F1' Scooter

“ This is a genuine Jaguar Racing bike, apparently used by Mark Webber to get around the F1 paddock. ”
With just 7 miles on the clock, this is effectively a brand-new scooter that just happens to be 23 years’ old.

Background
Established in 1923, Motobécane was, amongst other things, a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles.

In fact, for much of the 20th century, the firm was the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in France and their products enjoyed a fair amount of success in motorsports.

From the 1960s onwards, with cars becoming ever more affordable and the all-conquering Japanese motorcycle industry dominating the marketplace, Motobécane began a long, slow decline, culminating in bankruptcy in 1981.

Yamaha came to the rescue, buying the company and relaunching it as MBK in 1984.

The firm still makes scooters today, although the brand name itself has been subsumed within Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Europe S.A.S.

Overview
As all F1 fans out there will know, the fastest vehicles at any F1 circuit are - in order of swiftness - the F1 cars, the safety car, and the nippy little scooters that F1 drivers use to zip around the pit lane and the paddock.

We’ve all seen them. They look like a lot of fun.

The vendor, who collects all sorts of classic and other automotive bits and pieces, has decided that this is a collector niche he’d like to explore – which is why he has a number of these fabulous little pit lane and paddock scooters.

The ultra-low mileage example we have for you today was originally registered to EDS, one of the Jaguar F1 team’s main sponsors, and later acquired the Jaguar livery you see today when it served as the team’s paddock/pit lane transport in the racing team’s final season in F1.

It’s our understanding that the scooter served as the personal paddock transport of Mark Webber.

Badged as an MBK ‘Nitro’ machine, the scooter is mechanically indistinguishable from the Yamaha YQ50 machine with which it shares all components and a 49cc engine.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given its association with F1, the MBK ‘Nitro’ was noted for its lively turn of speed and sporty characteristics.

The bike starts, runs and, as far as we can tell, everything does what it’s supposed to do in a timely and faithful manner.

Estimate: £2,000 - £5,000

View The Current Bid price HERE