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SPRINGFIELD A world-class historical collection will be staying in Western Massachusetts and making up a cornerstone of the new Springfield history museum now under construction. Tuesday morning, Esta Manthos stood by watching movers carefully roll her collection of antique motorcycles out of the Indian Motocycle Museum she and her late husband Charles founded and into vans that will bring them into a new storage facility. To Manthos there isn't a single artifact in her extensive collection that is more important than the others. "Everything is important, she said. "Everything has a history." There's the first Indian from 1904 and the Indian version of a snowmobile that was used in Europe by American troops in Word War II. Manthos' own Indian is in the collection as well. Springfield Museums President Joseph Carvalho explained that one reason Manthos' collection is there is documentation on every motorcycle in the collection. Springfield was the home of the first American motorcycle or "motocycle" as the bike's founders called them. Bicycle racer George Hendee teamed up with engineer Carl Oscar Hedstrom in 1904 to develop an engine-drive bicycle. The Indian brand was the dominant one for the growing motorcycle field, but business decisions brought the close of its manufacturing in 1953. The Indians were known for both speed and durability and the company made thousands for the government during the Second World War. But gone isn't forgotten. The Museum has hosted an Indian Motocycle Day, which has drawn Indian enthusiasts literally from around the nation. And the Indian brand is currently the subject of a new revival. One attempt to build new motorcycles under that name lasted from 1999 to 2003. A new company owned by a British firm and based in Kings Mountain, NC, has announced on its Web site the intention of manufacturing their Indians next year. Manthos expressed her doubts about the new generations of Indians. She said what made the original Indians so good could be summed up in three words: simplicity, beauty and reliability. Manthos should know. Now 91, she started riding an Indian when she was 16-years-old. She said with a smile that her parents wanted a boy. "I never had a doll," she added. She went beyond just being a rider, though. Manthos helped restore the motorcycles in the collection and said she has designed a bike that would "wipe everything off the market" if it went into production. She hopes that her donation would encourage other people "with one or two items" to donate them to the museum. She intends to work with Carvalho's staff on the items she has donated. Carvalho said the collection includes one of every model the company made as well as examples of other motorcycles and bicycles. He said that some of the motorcycles could command $40,000 to $60,000 each in auction. The new history museum will be located in the former Verizon building on the corner of Edwards and Chestnut Streets next to the Quadrangle. Carvalho said the fund-raising campaign is currently in its non-public phase and he has been speaking privately to potential benefactors. | ||||||
