Owners of Vincent motorcycles have been chasing high speeds and exhilarating records since the bikes first garnered popularity in the 1940s and ‘50s. The vehicles’ ability to still be ahead of their time is chronicled in the upcoming documentary, ‘Speed is Expensive: Philip Vincent and the Million Dollar Motorcycle.’

The highly-anticipated film, which is narrated by Ewan Mcgregor, chronicles how an Australian collector paid $1.2 million at a Bonhams auction in 2018 to buy a Vincent Black Lightning. The purchase made the bike the most expensive motorcycle ever sold.

The movie also tells the inside story of the motorcycle maverick behind the bikes, designer Philip Vincent. The designer pioneered what is now known as guerrilla marketing – sponsoring Los Angeles racers, in secret, to compete in illegal back-street duels to promote his motorcycles.

Despite success, when Vincent passed away in 1979, he was penniless and living in public housing. His family fortune and personal life were both exhausted by his obsession with speed.

In ‘Speed is Expensive,’ McGregor is joined by such Vincent fans as former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno and artist, musician and motorcyclist Paul Simonon of The Clash. The documentary also features the final interview with world champion on two and four wheels, John Surtees, who trained at Vincents. Hours of unearthed personal films and audio interviews join accounts from Vincent’s family and the men and women who worked with him to provide an intimate portrait of the flawed genius.

‘Speed is Expensive’ will have its American premiere at the Laemmle Monica Film Center in L.A. on Wednesday, September 20. The documentary will then be released in select theaters, and distributed on digital and DVD on Tuesday, September 26, courtesy of Virgil Films.

The movie was directed by David Lancaster. While discussing the documentary, he said: “It is wonderful to be able to bring the film to North America with Virgil Films. Over the past years we’ve crossed the globe, from the USA to Australia, to film the world’s most expensive, exciting and beautiful motorcycles and talk to Philip Vincent’s family and remaining colleagues in order to bring Vincent’s story to the screen.”

Leno also chimed in on ‘Speed is Expensive,’ saying: “It looks great: moving footage of Philip Vincent really brings the story alive – loved it!”