The question has a ring of mystery to it, doesn’t it? “What motorcycle is in The World’s Fastest Indian?” Well, for those who haven’t seen the movie or lived under a rock for the last few decades, The World’s Fastest Indian is a film about one man, his machine, and an impossible dream that wasn’t so impossible after all. But this isn’t some glossy, computer-generated story of a souped-up, futuristic bike. No, this is about something gritty, real, and borderline ridiculous — the 1920 Indian Scout.
The World’s Fastest Indian Came from the 1920s?
Now, don’t let that year trick you. By today’s standards, a motorcycle from 1920 sounds like something you might find in a museum — quiet, rusty, and mostly forgotten. But this particular bike, owned and modified by New Zealander Burt Munro, was anything but forgotten. In the hands of Munro, it was a piece of history made faster, louder, and altogether wilder than anyone could have expected. Imagine an old lion shaking off the dust of time, hungry for one last hunt.
The Indian in question, the one at the heart of the movie, started as a factory-standard 600cc V-twin. But Burt Munro wasn’t interested in keeping things standard. He was a tinkerer, an inventor, and a mad scientist, and over the years, he transformed this already iconic machine into something entirely unique. By the time Burt took his bike to the Bonneville Salt Flats, the engine displacement had been increased to 950cc, and nearly every part of the bike had been modified by hand — pistons, flywheels, cams, you name it. If there was a way to make it faster, Burt found it.
Capturing the Burt Munro Spirit
The movie does a good job of capturing this spirit. We see Anthony Hopkins, playing Munro, hunched over his machine, covered in oil and sweat, testing new parts, adjusting this, fiddling with that. It’s the very essence of what so many of us love about motorcycles — the challenge, the passion, the desire to push boundaries just because they’re there to be pushed.
Munro’s journey with his Indian culminated in 1967 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. He set the world land-speed record for a motorcycle under 1000cc, clocking in at a blistering 183.59 miles per hour. Think about that for a second: a 47-year-old motorcycle, built in 1920, moving at 183 miles per hour. That’s not just fast — that’s legendary. It’s the kind of speed that defies expectations and borders on the insane, especially when you consider the limitations of the era’s technology.
The Indian Scout in The World’s Fastest Indian isn’t just a machine. It’s a symbol. A reminder that sometimes the limits we think exist are just illusions, waiting for someone like Burt Munro to smash them to pieces. It’s about the bond between man and machine, a partnership that, when pushed to its extremes, can achieve the impossible.
So, what motorcycle is in The World’s Fastest Indian? A 1920 Indian Scout, yes. But more than that, it’s a testament to passion, perseverance, and the belief that old dreams — and old bikes — can still fly.
