If you ever dreamed of owning a ‘60s Bultaco that’s had most of the hard restoration work already completed, now just might be your chance. This 1966 Bultaco Mercurio 175 is currently for sale over at Bring A Trailer, and it is, in the most technical of terms, a beaut.
The seller is located in Houston, Texas. Luckily for anyone who loves the process of restoring a bike like this, he chronicled the entire process on his blog. This Mercurio’s journey with the seller started way back in 2011. At the time, it did run, but it needed a whole lot of TLC, cash, and specialist attention to get it to the state in which you see it today.
Gallery: 1966 Bultaco Mercurio 175
Powder-coating the frame, silver and blue paint job, chrome-plating the appropriate bits, rebuilt forks and new-old-stock wire wheels, an engine rebuild, a 12-volt electrical system conversion (the original was 6-volt), and the list goes on. One thing you may want to address if you win this auction is a horn that doesn’t work. I think you’ll agree that after all the other work that’s been done, that’s a comparatively minor concern.
If you win this auction, the bike comes with some spares, service records, reference books, a clean Texas title, and two sets of keys for the toolbox and fork lock. The seller mentioned in the comments on the auction listing that there are some minor paint flaws, which he attributes to an auto body shop that he now wishes he hadn’t used.
Nevertheless, there are detailed photos of the paint flaws so you can decide if they’re a dealbreaker. He also mentioned that he couldn’t recall if, during the 12V conversion process, his mechanic also converted it to an electronic ignition. He further stated that he had no plans to take off the cover to check.
The seller had this bike listed on eBay in 2019 but didn’t end up getting legitimate offers that he felt were what the bike is worth. He accepts that he’s not going to get back the money he poured into it, but did have a firm amount in mind. If you’re interested in bidding, the current auction price at the time of writing is $2,500, and the auction ends on March 6, 2020.
Sources: Bring A Trailer, Running With The Bul, Bike-urious