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Guy Allen1 Oct 2024
FEATURE

The true history of Ducati

From making radio components to building over 50,000 motorcycles a year, Ducati has seen a long and wild ride to where it is today

Here’s a trivia question for you: which major motorcycle manufacturer started life as a maker of electronics? If your answer was Ducati, give yourself a pat on the back.

We’re talking of a company with a profile built on the prowess of its sports bikes – certainly since 1972 on the world stage, but its origins saw it piggy-back on to the then relatively new field of electronics. We’re talking 1926 when four Ducati family members went into business together: father Antonio plus his three sons, Adriano, Marcello and Bruno.

They established themselves in Bologna as the Societa Scientifica Radiobevetti Ducati, aka SSR Ducati, chasing (among other things) the burgeoning radio market. In just nine years, their success enabled them to build a new factory in the Borgo Panigale district. Panigale, that should sound familiar! It’s intriguing that it was only adopted as a model name in relatively recent times ­– 2011.

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Diverse portfolio before ravages of war

Business back in the late 1920s and through the 1930s was good. Ducati expanded its interests into cameras and mechanical devices such as cash registers and film projectors. However, its golden period was to be short-lived, as German troops moved in and took away much of its equipment in 1943. A year later, the factory was flattened by Allied bombing.

The company was bankrupt by the end of 1947. However, its work was seen as being of national importance, so the government-backed institute for industrial reconstruction (IRI) rescued it with financial support from the Vatican. That effectively put the company under government control for the next 38 years, which turned out to be a mixed blessing.

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Back in business, including powered bicycles

What about the motorcycles? The Bologna plant was soon rebuilt and, along with its previous diverse mix of products from 1945 began producing 48cc Cucciolo (“puppy”) four-stroke engines for fitment to bicycles. Post-war Europe was very much in need of cheap transport and a host of makers were soon fitting the engines to their own frames.

The Cucciolo was enormously successful, with 200,000 units sold by 1950. That was enough to convince Ducati to create its own complete Cucciolo moped. Later known as the 55E and 55R, depending on which engine variant was used, the series lasted until 1955.

With the market developing rapidly, Ducati responded by showing two new models at the 1952 Milan show: the 65TS motorcycle boasting a newly developed engine and the Cruiser scooter. The latter was not a great success and was cancelled after a two-year production run.

ducati vilar cucciolo 1950 wikimediapic credit yesterdays antique motorcycles

Separate wings take flight

In 1953 the company was split into two: Ducati Elettronica for much of its previous work, and Ducati Mecchanica SpA for the motorcycle division.

While the two sectors were split, there was a long-lasting relationship. Ducati Elettronica components, including ignition and charging systems, could be found on Ducati production bikes well into the 1970s.

Ducati dabbled extensively with two-stroke motorcycles in 50, 80, 90 and 125cc capacities, though the lack of penetration in the all-important USA market eventually killed off the project. There was also some internal resistance to the project, as some staff correctly saw big four-strokes as the future.

Fabio Taglioni

Taglioni: a designer for the ages

When it comes to influential staff, there is one name which stands head and shoulders above the others for his long-term influence over the product. That is designer Fabio Taglioni (1920-2001), who was technical director for the company from 1954 through to 1989.

He can claim credit for the company’s adoption of desmodromic valve actuation, and the fundamentals that underpin even today’s V-twin and V-four ranges.

At the conclusion of WWII, he worked for Ceccato Motorcycles and then Mondial before switching to Ducati. There he developed the company’s legendary overhead-cam four-stroke singles, initially with bevel drive and then the L-twins, which eventually moved onto belt-driven cams. When it comes to long-term influence over a major manufacturer’s product, he has few peers. Willie G Davidson over at Harley-Davidson might be the closest equivalent.

Author Ian Falloon, who has written several books on the marque, noted: “No one has stamped their mark on Ducati more than Fabio Taglioni. While he will always be remembered for desmodromic valve gear, Dr T as he has become known, was in many ways the father of Ducati.”

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The giddy heights of competition

Taglioni’s influence was immediate. By 1955 he had a race-winning bike in play, the 98cc Gran Sport Marianna, which won some legendary events, including the Motogiro d’Italia. This signalled the beginning of a time when Ducati became a force to be reckoned with on European circuits.

His next ground-shaking move was the introduction of a 125 Desmo in 1956. That of course went on to spawn a long list of Desmo singles, the pinnacle of which for many was the 450 that debuted in 1968 and saw numerous variants, including the ‘Silver Shotgun’ café racer and a scrambler. Claiming 27hp at 6500rpm, it was an effective competition bike in the right hands, even though most manufacturers by now were headlining their ranges with bigger engines and more cylinders.

It's not as though Taglioni and others hadn’t looked at alternatives. Encouraged by its USA distributor, the Berliner Motor Corporation, the company developed the 1964 Apollo V4 of 1260cc capacity with an incredible for the time 100hp. This was done with an eye not only for the expansive American interstate network, but the considerable money that could be made with sales to police departments.

The Ducati Apollo V4

Among the several issues encountered in building such an advanced motorcycle was the tyres of the day simply couldn’t handle the power, which was backed off 80hp – still considerably more than the equivalent Harley (Berliner’s main target) at 55hp.

Berliner went as far as promoting printing brochures for the machine and displaying it at the 1964 Earls Court motor show in the UK. However, this was one of those times when the government-appointed board stepped in and decided there wasn’t a sufficient market to make the Apollo viable. Funding was withdrawn.

Just two prototypes were built, one of which survives today and is in a private museum in Japan. Berliner turned to Moto Guzzi for an alternative, which helped along the development of the successful V7 twin and its variants such as the Ambassador and Eldorado. They proved popular with US police forces.

Into the big league

While, in hindsight, dropping the V-four project seems like an incredible thing to do, it did release the company’s energies to head in another direction, which is V-twins. In late 1968 Triumph launched its new 750-class T150 Trident, along with the BSA Rocket 3 variant, soon followed by Honda and its for the time astonishing 750-Four.

All three were sold at mass-market prices, aimed squarely at the USA, which promised the all-important volume needed to keep the factories turning over. It was in this environment that Ducati was forced to reconsider its plans. While the Apollo had been canned, there was ample evidence of a growing market for something more glamorous than the firm’s single-cylinder line-up.

ducati 750gt execs pr shot taglioni at right

By August 1970, Ducati showed the foundation of the bikes that were to save its future and cement it as a ‘big bike’ maker. It was a prototype 750 GT, the bones of which were two 350 singles with bevel-driven cams mounted on a common crankcase.

Taglioni laid the cylinders 90 degrees apart, which he called an L-twin, a configuration offering good primary balance and keeping the width of the machine close to that of a single, making it easier to provide good cornering clearance. It became a Ducati trademark.

There were other aspects of the production versions which were advanced for the day, including using the engine as a stressed member of the frame. Plus, meaty for the time 38mm fork tubes were used (35mm was more common at the time) and unsprung weight minimised with the use of light Borrani alloy rims. It was soon to be joined by a second variant, the Sport.

Ducati 750GT

Imola victory cements sporting credentials

Ducati’s public profile changed radically and permanently with its victory in the 1972 Imola 500 international endurance race. Briton Paul Smart and Italian Bruno Spaggiari formed the factory team, on specially prepared 750 Sport-based motorcycles with desmodromic heads. They finished 1-2 ahead of the formidable combination of Giacomo Agostini and his MV Agusta.

Ducati had made the big time. To celebrate, in 1974 it built 401 examples of the round-case 750 SS Imola replica, aka the green frame. Exactly how it got be called a green frame is a mystery, since it’s actually blue! The surviving examples have become serious investment bikes, worth in the vicinity of $300-400K for a good, verified example.

That race success and a modest range of product with enormous rider appeal was enough to lift Ducati’s profile from being the maker of quick little bikes to that of a brand with serious sporting credentials. Along the way, it probably saved the company.

While the 1970s largely represented good times for the big V-twins, there was trouble ahead. Chasing volume and a cut in production costs, the company in 1973 announced it was dropping OHC singles and invested in a series of parallel twin 500s that by any measure turned out to be a disaster. They were unreliable and arguably out of touch with the contemporary market.

Belt drive simplifies the process

In 1978 ownership was sold to the VM Group, a large industrial manufacturing company. This turned out to be a mixed blessing. While giving Ducati freedom from a sometimes overly interested government board, the VM Group was also happy to draw down Ducati resources to support its manufacture of diesel engines.

It was during this period Ducati and Taglioni made the next big technology leap to the belt-driven cam series pioneered by the Pantah V-twins. One of the issues with the bevel drive engines, particularly in desmodromic form, was that the assembly was complex and required precise shimming to work correctly. It was an expensive production process.

Switching to belt drive greatly simplified to crankshaft-camshaft timing, while producing consistently accurate results with far less parts and hours of assembly. You might say it was a no-brainer. We saw the emergence of the series in 1979, and pretty much every air-cooled Ducati model has since been faithful to that layout.

Just as importantly, the liquid-cooled four-valve series from the 748 and then 851 of 1987 has followed much of that thinking. Speaking of which, the 851 was perhaps the signature model for the Cagiva Group ownership from 1985. The Italian firm was passionate and not scared of taking risks.

One of its early efforts was the fully enclosed Paso, which proved to be a bit of a flop in an already depressed market. The company also briefly toyed with the idea of rebranding Ducati as Cagiva but thought better of it.

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World-beating Superbikes

Perhaps its best call was sticking its neck out to move from the belt cam-drive air-cooled two-valve V-twin and develop a four-valve liquid-cooled successor. When launched the 851 was hideously expensive, but nicely timed for the upcoming Superbike World Championship, a new rival to the GP scene.

Initially the rules of the game said four-cylinder motorcycles were limited to 750cc, while twins could run 1000cc. Honda dominated the first two years with its jewel-like RC30 V-four with American Fred Merkel in the saddle. Then came the Ducati wave.

The Italian marque took three titles on the trot with the 851 then 888 series. It then took 10 of the 14 titles in the years to come. It was a wild and crazy time when the factory also ran a 500cc GP team with high-profile riders Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola on board.

Without doubt the most iconic product of the frantic Cagiva era was the 916. The driveline was a development of the Desmoquattro powering the 748/851/888 series, and it was here that designer Massimo Tamburini really minted his reputation.

To quote an Ian Falloon story in AllMoto.com: “Only a few motorcycles can be credited with defining an era. Honda’s first 750-Four of 1969 established a tradition of across-the-frame four-cylinder motorcycles that continues today, and in 1994 Ducati unleashed their 916. The 916 was not only a benchmark motorcycle for Ducati, it created a styling blueprint for sportsbikes.”

Its astonishing race success over time, along with the sexy looks, means that early examples are now very much on the collector radar. Tamburini went on to design the elegant MV Agusta 750/1000 F4 relaunch series of 1999-on, but that’s another story.

The Ducati Museum

Monsters hit the sweet spot

Another iconic and lasting series from that era is the Miguel Galluzzi-designed Monster run of low-slung and rider-friendly naked bikes, from 1993. It was revolutionary for the brand in that its low seat and user-friendly manners made the L-twin series accessible to people, often women, who didn’t have the long inseam measurement or desire required to tackle the sports range.

Stylists have been central to the success of the brand over time. One who deserves mention is Pierre Terblanche, who had the probably impossible mission of coming up with a successor to the sexy 916-998 series, the 999 from 2008. His more angular approach was heavily criticised at the time, though it looks better now than it did back then.

Ayrton Senna on a Ducati Monster 900

More importantly for the rider, Tamburini was around 162cm tall while Terblanche was closer to 182. As a result, where a 916-998 (and MV Agusta F4) is a struggle for taller folk, the 999 has much more generous built-in adjustment.

Terblanche was also there when the Testastretta, a much-refined development of the 916-998 series, was brought into production.

While the liquid-cooled range was an important focus, Terblanche also got to play with the air-cooled series in the shape of the three-bike Sports Classic range. Chief among them was a Paul Smart replica. Though famously uncomfortable as a ride, its looks and the story behind it ensured it managed collectible status from day one.

ducati heritage 916

Ownership changes as Stoner wins the big one

In 1996 Ducati was sold to the Texas Pacific group, the start of an ownership roundabout that saw it bought by two investment companies – Investindustrial SpA and Performance Motorcycles SpA – from 2005 to 2012. It was then bought by Lamborghini under the ownership of Audi.

While the ownership changes may seem tumultuous, Ducati was nevertheless managing to focus much of its resources on racing. Always a threat in world superbike, it became far more active in the premier MotoGP class from 2003 and was rewarded in 2007 with a title win with Australian Casey Stoner in the saddle.

Casey Stoner on his Ducati MotoGP machine

While the company had stuck with its V-twin formula for superbike, in MotoGP it had been campaigning a V-four and in 2006-2008 marketed its Desmosedici road-going race replica. The company built 1500, the initial batch of which it famously sold via the internet – the first time for a motorcycle of any make. You needed deep pockets to get the keys to one, as the retail price in Australia was $100,000.

The early 2000s also saw the company broaden the catalogue of its offerings, with the Multistrada adventure touring range introduced in 2003 and the Diavel power cruiser in 2011. In 2015 it reintroduced the Scrambler after a 40-year layoff.

Post-2010 was a particularly busy period, with the fresh Panigale V-twin range making its debut in 2011 and the V-four line-up in 2018.

The company’s purchase by Lamborghini-Audi has been significant as we’ve seen signs of fresh investment, plus a far livelier marketing effort. If there is one thing Lamborghini understands, it’s car collectors. And it has been moving into the motorcycle collecting space for some time now.

Ducati is now owned by the Volkswagen Group

Ducati has in the decade-plus of Lamborghini ownership gone to great lengths to establish its credentials as a fashionable marque, with some success. That in turn has had an impact on the prices of classic models, particularly the early bevels and early 916s, while enabling the company to market a dizzying array of limited-edition specials.

In 2023, the company produced 58,224 motorcycles. It makes you wonder how the original Ducati family would view that success, nearly a century down the road…

What is next for Ducati?
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Written byGuy Allen
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