Moto Guzzi Eldorado

That year Australian Keith Campbell gave Moto Guzzi its final World Championship, and the next decade saw Moto Guzzi teeter to the brink of disaster. Guzzi's directors completely underestimated the significance of the small car for mass transportation. Whereas during the 1950s people were clambering for basic motorcycles, when prosperity arrived in the mid-1960s they deserted motorcycles for cars. Much of Guzzi's plant and machinery was out of date, and Moto Guzzi almost followed dozens of other Italian manufacturers into extinction. They were saved by the V7, a transverse, 90-degree, V-twin with shaft drive. Once upon a time Moto Guzzi was known for horizontal singles, but since 1967, the V7 layout has become a Guzzi trademark. And it continues to form the basis of all modern Moto Guzzis, including the recently released 750 cc Breva.

The V7 engine was extremely advanced for its day, and the current 1100cc variants are remarkably similar. The all-alloy engine included pushrod-operated overhead valves, with the camshaft situated between the cylinders. Unlike most motorcycle engines of the time the one-piece steel crankshaft used plain big-end and two plain main bearings. Ignition was by battery and coil, with an automotive-type distributor driven off the rear of the camshaft. The clutch and final drive followed automotive rather than traditional motorcycle practice. Bolted to the rear of the crankshaft was a flywheel housing a twin plate dry clutch, and the final drive was by shaft inside the right side of the swingarm. A universal joint was connected to the gearbox layshaft and the rear of the drive shaft to a pair of bevel gears. It was rugged and reliable. 

With the United States the largest market for the V7, there were calls for more displacement. For 1968 the engine grew to 757cc, and the next evolution for 1972 saw Guzzi's tourer become 850cc. Known as the 850 GT, or Eldorado, in America, this lasted through until 1974. The power was up to a respectable 65bhp at 6500 rpm, there was now a five-speed gearbox, but some anachronistic features, such as the belt-driven Marelli dynamo, remained. The chassis was inherited from the V7, the large loop frame designed for strength rather than lightness, with 18-inch wheels front and rear. Some examples retained the V7's double leading-shoe front brake, while others included the more effective four leading-shoe type of the contemporary V7 Sport.

One thing that didn't change was the size and weight. The 850 GT was built to last, and weighed a considerable 235 kg. Even so, it was capable of a respectable 190 km/h in the right conditions, and was the mainstay of Guzzi's line-up during 1972 and 1973. By 1974, a disc replaced the front drum brake, but by now Alessandro De Tomaso was in control and a new era of production rationalisation had begun. De Tomaso wanted to end all twin cylinder production to concentrate on the Honda-derived four and six-cylinder models and the 850 GT was thus the last of the traditional large loop-frame Guzzis. But this wasn't the end of the twin, as tradition dies hard at Maranello. While the multis withered away, the big twin survived.

FIVE MOLTO GRANDE THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE MOTO GUZZI BIG TWIN

By Ian Falloon