'Speed is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle' narrated by Ewan McGregor
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When the hammer came down on an Australian record-setting Vincent motorcycle at an auction in 2018, an enthusiast paid $1.2 million to own the machine – making it the most expensive motorcycle in the world. Speed is Expensive tells the story of the man behind the bike: Philip Vincent.
Vincent’s creations would become the most admired and collected motorcycles in the world. Yet when he passed away in 1979 he was unrecognized, penniless and living in public housing in west London. In truth, Vincent’s devotion to speed cost him his fortune and his career. In a post-war, rationed-ravaged United Kingdom the firm produced a motorcycle which Hunter S Thompson claimed could ‘outrun the F-111 until take-off.’ Along the way, Philip Vincent’s love life was turned upside down – and a high-speed crash left him in a coma for months.
The dramatic story of this flawed genius is told in Speed is Expensive through never-before-seen period film shot by Vincent himself, unearthed audio recordings, along with intimate interviews with friends, family, record-setters and colleagues. Speed is Expensive is filmed on location around the world: France and the USA – the UK and Australia. Vincent’s co-designer, Phil Irving, grew up in Western Victoria and travelled over-land to the UK on a side-car outfit to join the company in the early 1930s. Irving would later design the F1 winning Repco- Brabham engine.
In the film, Melbourne-built Irving Vincents, the race-winning modern iterations of the Vincent, are captured at the Broadford racetrack in stunning action footage. And the Jack Ehret Lightning – the world’s most expensive – re-creates its southern hemisphere 1952 speed record runs at Gunnedah, NSW. The bike, having travelled the world, is back in Australian hands.
Richard Hammond, presenter of Top Gear and now The Grand Tour, calls Speed is Expensive, ‘Moving and wonderfully written'.
Charley Boorman, co-star of the Long Way series of documentaries, says it is a ‘beautifully told’ story.
SPEED IS EXPENSIVE HAS FINISHED ITS FESTIVAL RUN WITH MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ORGANISE A COMMUNITY SCREENING OR YOU ARE RUNNING A FESTIVAL, MOTOR EVENT, CAFE BAR OR CINEMA PLEASE EMAIL THE FILMMAKER DIRECT: [email protected]
