Bob Hannah’s 1977 Daytona Supercross Trophy
Being in the vintage motorcycle business for several decades you tend to become a magnet for certain things. Most of the time those things are only valuable to the person that owns them. Almost all the time, actually.
On this particular day however, things would be different.
I had gotten several calls over a two month period from a former speedway racer of note. He yammered on each time about this treasure trove of cool memorabilia that he found in some house out in the Mojave desert. Nothing that he mentioned motivated me to drive an hour and a half to dig through old boxes that probably had more scorpions and black widows than “holy grail” memorabilia. No matter how politely disinterested I was, he just kept calling and calling and calling.
Final one day he called the shop but this time with a very different demeanor. Different like he had seen an alien and was worried no one would believe him. Different like he had a secret he was dying to tell someone but wasn’t sure he should.
It was late in the day and I was in no mood to play 50 question. “So I said, “I appreciate your perseverance on trying to sell me this stuff but I honestly don’t need more stuff. I have a shop full of stuff.”
He said “You are never going to guess what I found! There was a brand new Preston Petty fender and the invoice was made out to Bob Hannah! THE Bob Hannah! Can you believe it? Bob “frickin” Hannah. You know “The Hurricane!”
I said, “ Hate to burst your bubble but yes I can believe it. I bought the remaining inventory of Petty Products 20 years ago and there were several invoices made out to Bob. I also have over a thousand brand new Petty fenders. Wanna buy some”?
There was a long silence that ensued, after which I said “I am going to be in your area tomorrow to pick up some parts so I will do what I can to make time to stop by.”
He said “Really, you are finally going to come look? I will get everything out and ready. I really only want to sell everything together so I can have my garage back.”
Did I mention that this was pre-navigation on phones or in cars? It was a total pain in the ass to find his place but find it I did.
He showed me to the back of the overgrown property, where he nudged open the door on a dimly-lit, cobweb-filled garage. A place where I assumed he dismembered the other unsuspecting moto-fans he had lured there with promises of Hannah’s memorabilia. I was really questioning my better judgement as I stepped inside.
Sure it was a bit unorganized but far from Herman Muster or Grandpa’s garage. My fears of being his latest victim and ending up in the deep freezer were calmed a bit.
First thing I saw was a lightly used, yellow Yamaha YZ490. Before I could ask him about it he handed me a document from Yamaha Motor Co. giving the bike to one Robert Hannah.
He said, “ I found a few things that I think you are going to be interested in. Jerseys, a pair of pants and some other stuff with Hannah’s name on it.”
I started riding in the Mojave desert about the same time Bob did and we had some mutual friends that all lived in the desert, so he story about finding this stuff in the desert was starting to make sense. He was right, I was interested. I started digging through every box and bin he had. Legit Hannah stuff alright.
The last thing I went through was a crusty old suit cast (where I was sure I would find body parts) but much to my surprise it was a bag full of trophy parts. Seemed a bit odd to me but maybe Hannah liked to have spare parts for when he didn’t win and needed to throw something against the wall. I mean why else would you have trophy parts. Body parts I can understand…
This was really the most odd mix of cool stuff I had every come across. I had no idea what to offer him so I asked him what he felt it was worth or what he wanted for it.
He said, “ I’m not sure but I want to get into vintage racing and need money to buy a bike.”
I said, “It’s your lucky day, I have several ready to go bikes. You just need to come down to the shop and pick one out.”
He couldn’t believe his good fortune and to be honest, neither could I. This batch of history could have just as easily gone to the dump and been lost forever; but it wasn’t.
After all the apparel was washed and inventoried, the bike was gone through, I remembered the suitcase of trophy parts that were included in the haul. I drug it out and opened it up. Took every part and piece out and laid them on the bench like a jigsaw puzzle. After a couple of hours and a couple beers I was able to assemble to complete two first place trophies. One for an AMA National motocross win and the other was amazingly from the 1977 Daytona Supercross! Next to the Superbowl of Motocross, a Daytona Supercross trophy is the “holy grail.” Add to that it was Bob Hannah’s first Daytona SX win and the historical significance was staggering.
As happy as I was to have it, I felt guilty that Bob didn’t have it. Our paths crossed soon thereafter and I got a chance to tell him what I found. He verified that he left a lot of stuff with this friend in the desert and trophies were some of it. “I offered give it back to him because it seemed like the right thing to do”.
He said, “I don’t want that plastic pile of crap. I took them apart to travel home from a race and never thought about them again. The win and the money was way more important to me. That race was over and we were on to the next one. I never really got attached to things that represented the past. I was always looking forward. You will enjoy it more than I ever will.”
With that I became the caretaker (not owner) of this heirloom of motorcycle racing history.
Enjoy it I have.
