u/iam5peed

I tidied up this Arai x7 manufactured Jan 1979.

It has some nice patina but had crappy stick on stripes.

I removed the stripes and made a new visor, it can go into the collection now.

Latest addition to my collection, Shoei S-12 manufactured 24 July 1976.

The inside is mint and it has some nice patina on the outside.

It was missing the visor so I made a new one.

The bottom rubber was torn so replaced that too.

Shoei sticker on the front was missing so I have recreated that with paint.

Cool looking helmet!

AGV was founded in 1947 by Gino Amisano, AGV name being his initials and Valenza, the city in which the company was based.

AGV initially made leather seats and motorcycle saddles, adding leather motorcycle helmets a year later. Helmet production became the core business when they started making fiberglass helmets in 1954. Around this time, AGV began making sponsorship deals with motorcycle racers, eventually claiming greats such as Angel Nieto, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, Wayne Rainey and Valantino Rossi as their riders.

In the 70’s F1 greats wore AGV’s including Emerson Fittipaldi, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones and infamously Niki Lauda in his fiery 1976 German Grand Prix race.

Gotta love Emerson's sidies and Barry's mullet in these photos!

Joseph Buegeleisen founded the Joseph Buegeleisen Company in or around 1933 in Detroit, Michigan. Joseph had worked for his brother Elias’s company selling Resistal aviator goggles in the early 1930’s.

Joseph’s business manufactured Buco helmets (and other cycling related products) using the advertising slogan "Look better, feel better, are better".

The Joseph Buegeleisen Company would become synonymous with motorsport, becoming the largest US accessory and safety helmet manufacturer of the time. In the 1950's and 1960's Buco was sold in Harley Davidson and Indian Motorcycle dealerships among others.

Surprising then that photos of these helmets in period are hard to find, but here is one worn by Peter Revson of Formula One, IndyCar, Can-Am, and Trans-Am fame. The other is Graham Hill in the 1960’s wearing a Buco Resistal II (which sold in 2024 for GBP £144,000)!!!

In 1958, 18-year-old Bill Simpson broke both arms in a drag racing crash. Bill said later, "Until then, I was like most drivers. The only time I thought about safety was after I'd been hurt. This time, I was hurt bad enough to do a lot of thinking.

A line of Simpson helmets, nicknamed the "Star Wars" helmet has been in production since 1979. The original model was named the RX-1 (RXM-1 for motorcycle use), then renamed the Model 30 shortly thereafter. The basic design was eventually revised with fewer air slots and renamed the "Bandit."

The RX-1 is iconic with its slots and shaped face opening, like this one worn by Jochen Mass during his F1 career. The style is still to be seen today with the SA2020 Diamondback as worn by the Stig.

In 1952, Hirotake Arai officially began producing motorcycle helmets under the company name Arai Hirotake Shoten Co. Ltd., with the first helmets designated H.A. after his initials.

But Arai’s roots actually trace back to 1900 when Yuichiro Arai began producing kepi-style caps.

After World War II, Hirotake shifted to industrial safety helmets for construction workers, using resin shells lined with cork, which later evolved into expanded polystyrene liners. His personal experience riding motorcycles while wearing these helmets inspired him to create protective helmets specifically for motorcyclists.

 Arai Helmets achieved global recognition, including the development of the first Snell-certified Arai helmet in 1963.

One of my favorite Arai's is Nigel Mansell's GP-N SA80 from 1986. Simple design with simple graphics, looks great.

 

My Arai X-7 manufactured in Jan 1979.

The Gold stripes are not original.

Are these helmets worth much as collectors items?

Should I restore it or leave it as is?

This is my Eldorado E80 helmet

I'm guessing 1980s vintage?

Does anyone know anuthing about these helmets? Were they good quality in their day?

This one had been repainted yellow at some point, so I decided to add some stripes and the lotus logo.

I then distressed it for some authenticity.

These two helmets started my collection.

I was led to believe they are 1970s eastern European?? They appear authentic and seem to be covered in a type of vinyl.

Anybody know anything about these types of helmets?

I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to have a classic car collection 😮‍💨

I don't have the space or the funds or the skills to buy something that needs work and get it running.

But maybe I can have a classic crash helmet collection 🤔

They don't take up much space.

70's and 80's F1 helmets are cool (like the cars themselves) so maybe collecting helmets is for me.

Anyone out there have a collection or an interesting helmet they want to show off?

Here's my small 3 helmet collection.