Freddie Cooper Triton

The definition of a cafe racer gets looser as the years go by. But this Triton, which will go on sale at the Wheels & Waves event in France in June, is as authentic as they come. Built in 1960, it’s a truly original English cafe racer—and one with a particularly interesting history. It’s the work of motorcycle racer Freddie Cooper, the first man to exceed 200 mph on English soil. Cooper was a racing contemporary of John Surtees, and he knew how to build bikes. Motorcycle News bet that he couldn’t build a race bike for £100, and lost...