sonny angel

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

donmeek

Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Messages
144
I found out yesterday that Sonny has sold his shop and the entire contents, lock, stock and barrel. It appears that the person who bought it is the same guy that bought the MK111 in the crate off ebay. Someone from Virginia. Anybody have a clue who this might be? The back rooms in his shop were filled, and I mean filled, with bikes and parts.
 
I guess they better keep the shipping arrangements secret! :wink:
 
It might be nice if it ended up recreated as a museum display like the 1930s garage in the Beaulieu Motor Museum.
 
Well I just emailed the buyer of Sonny,s Commando and his son and law and it is Verified. The Funds for the sale will happen around May to June. The
buyer said he was in Japan at the moment( I wonder if the shop is going to Japan ? ). His Son in Law said it would be a good idea to get whatever projects
out of there soon! Well I got a 71 Norton SS Commando Ive kind of stored there for awhile, a Vincent Comet Motor that Donny doing for me and alot of other
stuff. I guess Im going over there and finding out whats up. Sonny and Donny are great guys and there knowledge is deep. They shared with me so much
history and knowledge. Sonny Wife Chriss just passed away and it time for him to take it easy, I hope he keeps involved with motorcycles. Sonny Angels is
truly a legend.
 
vandewalker said:
Well I just emailed the buyer of Sonny,s Commando and his son and law and it is Verified. The Funds for the sale will happen around May to June. The
buyer said he was in Japan at the moment( I wonder if the shop is going to Japan ? ). His Son in Law said it would be a good idea to get whatever projects
out of there soon! Well I got a 71 Norton SS Commando Ive kind of stored there for awhile, a Vincent Comet Motor that Donny doing for me and alot of other
stuff. I guess Im going over there and finding out whats up. Sonny and Donny are great guys and there knowledge is deep. They shared with me so much
history and knowledge. Sonny Wife Chriss just passed away and it time for him to take it easy, I hope he keeps involved with motorcycles. Sonny Angels is
truly a legend.
Click to expand...

+1 with what vandewalker writes. Last I was at Sonny's shop was in the early 90s, on a 1972 Comat Intestate I owned at the time. A very knowledgeable and likeable guy. His shop was like going to a candy store, as I'd ride the 135 + miles to his shop ... just to look around at all the cool stuff he had. The Southern Cal Norton scene was pretty active back then, I can only hope it still is. I wish all the best to Sonny and company ...
 
I have (had? I forget) one of his single carb adapter manifolds.

Very nice stuff.
 
I was at his shop a couple of weeks ago.

Sonny told me that the guy buying the shop intends to run it exactly as it is, as an "old-school" motorcycle shop.

And has asked Sonny's brother, Don Angel, who is well-know on the Bonneville Salt Flats as the pilot of the Vincent twin-engined streamliner, to stay on at the shop.

Don knows more about fixing Nortons than probably any of us on the forum. He recently ran his Mark 2 at 128 MPH (think that's the mark he hit?) at El Mirage Salt Flats here in So. California. And of course, he's plotting how he can squeeze some more juice out of it.

Go Nortons!
 
all the posts about sonny are right on the mark. I have spent time with sonny and don at the salt flats, sharing a room with them . he has a racing/norton/vincent history book in his head, is a great guy and loves to talk about his experiences. Don is funny and very talented. it would be a shame to see that shop go away. I too have one of sonny's manifolds # 382, that has been on the bike since 1981. let's hope some one is paying attention and keeps things going (with maybe a little clean up and organization).
 
Little late on this post!

Was doing a bit of searching for info about dad, and came across this thread. I'm Sonny's son in law, and things are rolling along fine! Donmeek has the correct info, the shop was indeed sold to a new owner. The new owner has done EXTENSIVE clean-up around the shop, and intends to re-open this year or next. He will keep the name, and purchased the corporation to boot. Don stayed on, but won't be doing much work until shop renovations are complete. He's making progress on an old Ariel....long term project.

For anyone who spent time there, and saw the contents....you'd be astonished at the amount of clean-up work that's taken place.

The shop isn't technically "open" for business right now....only tended to by Walt during the week. Sonny is alive and well, enjoying retired life. He turns 90 tomorrow.

Cheers!
 
nortriubuell said:
Now that ... is good news :) Thanks for the update Firehawk !
Click to expand...

Absolutely!

A caveat to this post.....the Norton community will begin seeing items from Sonny's collection for sale in the near future. Beginning to gather, catalog, and store his historical memorabilia.....and finding quite a lot of it. Significant number of bikes and parts will become available soon. Haven't listed anything yet, as I'm still searching for documentation on a number of the bikes. Will begin with smaller items like tanks, gearboxes, seats, fenders, frames, and such.

More than likely, I'll list either here or eBay. Profile there is firehawk2003.

All proceeds go to the Sonny Angel Retirement Fund ;)
 
This retirement stage has been happening for at least a couple of 3 years or more now. I say this because along with the norton stuff he also carried guzzi stuff. I bought one of the guzzi shop bikes two years ago when the rumors started he was going to retire.
He also made a 2-1 manifold for a guzzi loop frame bike. While I've never been to his shop I have heard a lot of stories even before the internet.

Tim_s
 
Wish I could have been at Sonny's party yesterday, but Sal didn't tell me about it way too late to make arrangements to fly to CA. I saw him last year and was a little shocked to see the deteriation in him since his wife died. I would really like to see someone from the INOA or Motorcycle Classics do an interview with him and Donny before Sonny's memory is gone completely. One of the popular bike mags did a story on him a while ago, maybe a follow up?
 
donmeek said:
Wish I could have been at Sonny's party yesterday, but Sal didn't tell me about it way too late to make arrangements to fly to CA. I saw him last year and was a little shocked to see the deteriation in him since his wife died. I would really like to see someone from the INOA or Motorcycle Classics do an interview with him and Donny before Sonny's memory is gone completely. One of the popular bike mags did a story on him a while ago, maybe a follow up?
Click to expand...

Working on something to that effect! Have a line out to Classic Racer, the magazine that carried his story a few years back. And, have no fear about the history and heritage he's collected over the years...it will be preserved and displayed eventually in some fashion or form. I'm a bit of a bike and history nut myself!

When I stayed with dad three years ago, I prepared a series of questions, and took nearly 4 hours of 1080p video with my 5D camera. Knew his mind would go, and there's no possible way for me to remember all of his stories. Between the video and documentation I've found, there's more than enough to write a book.
 
just a postscript, maybe should be a PM, but what the hell. Talked with my buddy Sal who was at the party, and he said Sonny is doing really well since being in the care of his daughters. So, thank you Mark for taking charge of a living legend and a really nice guy. I'm sure it is not my place to publish what you folks have done for Sonny and preseving what is at the house.Incredible!! Watch out for the hounds, they will be rabid when they descend on you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

7
  • Locked
Sonny Angel on EBAY
2
Replies
20
Views
2,495
Firehawk
Firehawk
Back
Top