Lawrence of Arabia's last ride

The incident was over in seconds; the distant roar of a powerful motorcycle, probably travelling far faster than anyone appreciated. And then the cycle was knocked from under a schoolboy, who was left dazed to ponder who it was that was lying face down by the roadside. Only one man on the Isle of Purbeck rode such an expensive motorcycle. That man was Lawrence of Arabia.

From that moment on, a corner of Dorset went into lockdown. Lawrence was taken away in an army truck, a guard was placed on his cottage and there was a media blackout. No one came. No one went.

The two schoolboys involved in the incident (one of whom had been knocked off his bicycle) who had started the day looking for bird's eggs were wide-eyed and in custody. Most people in Britain did not believe MI5 actually existed. Most people in rural Dorset had not even heard of the organisation and now the county was teeming with its curious members.

Thomas Edward Lawrence CB DSO's beloved 998cc Brough Superior motorcycle had a tarpaulin thrown over it before it was secretly driven away on the back of a Ford truck. This was the very motorcycle that Lawrence prophetically described as "…a skittish motorcycle with a touch of blood in it".

The Brough Superior SS100 on which Lawrence met his end appealed to his complex personality. His life after Arabia was a mass of contradictions. He wanted to avoid the fame that Arabia had brought him and disappeared into the ranks, albeit after telling the press. He was troubled after the revolt in the desert and anxious to see that Britain kept her promise to the Arabs. The spectre of public revelation of his illegitimacy haunted him.

Motorcycles presented him with the escape. And it was another showman in the form of George Brough who built him the "Rolls-Royce Of Motorcycles" and personally guaranteed that each of the eight Lawrence owned in his lifetime would top 100mph.

Lawrence was gushing in his appreciation: "Yesterday I completed 100,000 miles since 1922 on five successive Brough Superiors… thank you for the road pleasure I got out of them… your present machines are as fast and reliable as express trains, and the greatest fun in the world."

And he should know. His trips could range from 500 to 700 miles per day visiting friends from Winston Churchill to Nancy Astor and managing to race with a Sopwith Camel biplane en route. Lawrence of Arabia was never destined to die in an old people's home. Instead, 80 years ago this week, his life was drawing quietly to a close in a secluded corner of England, shrouded in almost obsessive secrecy. For six days he fought for his life until on May 19, 1935 he succumbed to his injuries.

The coroner Ralph Neville Jones was called and duly inspected the motorcycle in the course the inquest. The boys who entered police custody stating that a black car had been involved in the accident now emerged denying any such knowledge, thereby planting the seeds of a conspiracy theory that has never been established or comprehensively dismissed.

After the accident, the motorcycle spent three months in the garage in Dorset that had serviced it. George Brough offered to renovate the bike for the princely sum of £40 but Lawrence's brother Arnold baulked at the price – the bike cost £180 when new and the average wage was £3 per week. Eventually the bike was sold back to Brough, who carried out the repairs. It was then sold to a Cambridge dealer in whose window it languished for "publicity purposes".

Publicity. Lawrence once said: "I suppose they'll come back to rattle my bones." Of course they would, he'd make sure of it. Even before David Lean's masterpiece starring Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, the American journalist Lowell Thomas knew a star when he saw one. His first account of the desert campaign alone ensured Lawrence's immortality. His passing was front page news. Clouds Hill was besieged by souvenir hunters and pressmen as if to portend media habits to come. Arnold Lawrence had to quickly have bars installed at the windows of his brother's remote Dorset cottage. On Monday, May 20 the papers hit the newsstands: "Lawrence the Soldier Dies to Live Forever" rang out the Daily Sketch. And there, immortalised beneath Lawrence, was his purposeful Brough Superior.

Long before The Great Escape or Girl on a Motorcycle, a popular figure was giving momentum to the motorcycle as a brand. But George Brough's tiny factory was otherwise employed throughout the war and motorcycle production never resumed thereafter. Of the 3,000 models produced some 1,100 remain on the road, helped by a flow of spares that continued to be produced right up until 1969. By this time the world had inescapably moved on and the chequered flag fell for the very last time. Or so they thought.

Small numbers and Lawrence's association guaranteed the Brough's value and a decent one will today set you back £100,000. Six of the eight Lawrence Broughs are beyond certain identification. But the final Lawrence Brough splits its time between the Imperial War Museum and the National Motor Museum. Many have tried to purchase it, without success. One vintage motorcycle dealer in southern England received an approach from the agent of an unidentified Middle Eastern buyer who put £750,000 on the table; it didn't come close. The real value "could" be in excess of £1.5million.

But the right brand has a phoenix-like quality, as both revitalised Triumph and now Indian motorcycles can testify. And now a hand-built Brough Superior for the 21st century has emerged. Instantly recognisable and cunningly modernised, today's SS100 will set you back £50,000, which is roughly the equivalent in real terms with the price in 1935.

The current Brough Superior Limited makes every bit as much of its association with Lawrence of Arabia as the late George Brough intended. Clearly he remains very good for business. Even so, if you are interested in purchasing one of these very exclusive motorcycles, arranging a corresponding race with a Sopwith Camel might not be so easy.

Nigel Winter is the author of Travelling With Mr Turner

For all the latest news, advice and reviews from Telegraph Cars, sign up to our weekly newsletter by entering your email here