Add Moto Guzzi to the very short list of manufacturers that can say they have been around for 100 years. Today – 15 March 2021 – is the 100th anniversary of one of Italy’s famous motorcycle brands, which could also claim that each of its models has been rolling out in the same door in Mandello del Lario since the beginning.
Although we originally intended to compile a brief history of the brand and highlight key achievements along the way, Moto Guzzi’s own press release below does a good job of covering the brand’s past 100 years.
As you can imagine, Moto Guzzi has excelled over the past century, including winning 14 world championships, some land speed records and successfully completing a trip to the Arctic Circle – in 1928. Today we do not really think of the brand as one of the frontiers of technology and innovation, but in the early years of Guzzi, his motorcycles had only one cylinder and an external flywheel along the left foot of the driver to keep the engine dimensions small.
Moto Guzzi even experimented with a V8 engine – the Ottocilindri (eight cylinders) – for the 1955-1957 Grand Prix seasons. The car had only 500 cc, and has dual camshafts, liquid cooling and a separate carburetor for each cylinder. It could reach 172 km / h, but it was incredibly dangerous to drive, even for the time being, as the tires, suspension, brakes and chassis could not keep up with the incredible speed the engine could deliver. The project was eventually scrapped and it would take another 20 years before Grand Prix motorcycles could reach the point of 172 km / h.
Today, Moto Guzzi motorcycles are better known for their quirky (some will be charming), laterally mounted V-Twins. With each cylinder sticking to the sides, Moto Guzzis will tilt to one side if you stop it. Performance is no longer part of the appeal, but character, style and elegance are now the strong fit of the brand.
It is fair to say that Moto Guzzi has aged well over the past century. Whether you like it or not, the brand has a special place in motorcycle history. Check out the brand’s official press release below to celebrate its performance. There you can get a brief history of the start of the company, as well as other milestones achieved over the years.
Then prepare for a giant photo gallery with nearly 400 photos highlighting the Mandello del Lario factory, the company’s founders, early racing pilots and various models from over the years.
Happy birthday, Moto Guzzi. Here are another 100.
Start press release:
On March 15, 2021, Moto Guzzi celebrates its first legendary 100 years.
A century of history, amazing motorcycles, triumphs, adventures and extraordinary personalities, who together built the legendary Eagle Brand. Moto Guzzi celebrates this exceptional milestone at a time when he is enjoying a fresh new season of success.
The motorcycle range has been extensively renewed, with the use of modern technical features in terms of electronic equestrian aids, while maintaining the trade values of style and authenticity. Elken Moto Guzzi motorcycle built with ambitious care at the Mandello del Lario plant and commitment to a unique, authentic identity, skillfully balancing the classic Moto Guzzi style with the latest technology and reflecting a construction philosophy that creates an exclusive relationship between the bike and the rider.
The Chairman and CEO of Piaggio Group, Roberto Colaninno, said: “The Moto Guzzi Centenary is a proud moment for the Piaggio Group, which joined the Eagle brand in 2004, and for the Italian industry as a whole, not just the motorcycle sector. An ability for innovation, boldness to move forward, a competitive spirit, love for the product and meticulous attention to production quality are the skills that Moto Guzzi has combined over the years with his unique relationship with the local community. Since 1921, every Moto Guzzi bike that has gone out of the world has been built in the Mandello factory, the place where the business was founded exactly one hundred years ago. All this will continue throughout the history of the second century. Moto Guzzi is an example of Italian excellence, “ added Colaninno. “It has faded into our country’s history without ever losing its youthful spirit and continues to inspire passion among thousands of Guzzi cyclists around the world.”
The eagle logo, the unmistakable emblem of Moto Guzzi, in itself helped to create the legend of a brand that has always been inextricably linked to the history of Italy.
The eagle that was distributed dates from the military service of the company’s founders, Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi, in the Italian Royal Navy’s air force during the First World War. It was during the war that the two friends, and pilot Giovanni Ravelli, decided to manufacture a motorcycle as soon as the conflict ended. Ravelli died in an accident in 1919 and could never achieve his dream. Guzzi and Parodi chose the Eagle as their symbol to commemorate their companion.
Over its hundred years, Moto Guzzi has achieved victories on racetracks around the world and hoisted the Italian flag for an impressive 14 world championship titles. It was the motorcycle of the speed record, the symbol of the growth of a country looking to the future, the motorcycle of the police and the army, and expanded his career to the international stage and equipped the equipment California Police and, more recently, the police in Berlin and many other European cities, as well as the sovereign guidance in Jordan. Moto Guzzi is also the motorcycle of the Corazzieri, the elite corps that accompanies the President of the Italian Republic.
Moto Guzzi has been the preferred bike for long-distance travel from the beginning. It was in 1928 when Giuseppe Guzzi reached the Arctic Circle with his GT “Norge”begins with a tradition that continues, with travelers departing on their Moto Guzzi bikes every day somewhere in the world, on their way to distant lands.
Today, Moto Guzzi is a core division of the Piaggio Group, the leading manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters in Europe, which has preserved the original features of Moto Guzzi, promoted its values and brought it back to the forefront.
The move back to competitive racing with the Moto Guzzi quick endurance trophy, which will be held on a European scale this year, and a new family of motorcycles has brought Moto Guzzi to an excellent market position and introduced his name to a younger audience. The classic V7, which has just come out on the new 850 two-cylinder, and the classic enduro V85TT intended for travel and designed for convenience and comfortable driving, are the top sellers of a brand that has been revived for a number of years.
Moto Guzzi has always been admired and respected by cyclists around the world, no matter what motorcycle they own, and cyclists will be the protagonists of Moto Guzzi World Days at Mandello del Lario from 9 to 12 September, the highlight in the festivity for the Moto Guzzi Centenary, the most important celebration for this special anniversary.
Moto Guzzi World Days has always been an unacceptable opportunity for cyclists and is now making its eagerly awaited return, ten years after the last issue. Tens of thousands of enthusiasts will arrive from every corner of the planet to enjoy a unique and memorable event, made possible by the collaboration between Moto Guzzi, the Comitato Motoraduno Internazionale and the municipality of Mandello del Lario.
***100 YEARS OF HISTORY FOR THE MOST AUTHENTIC NAME IN WORLD MOTORCYCLE
This was on March 15, 1921 when the company “Società Anonima Moto Guzzi” was founded for the “manufacture and sale of motorcycles and any other activity related to the metalworking industry”. That was the moment when the founders, Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi, chose the eagle as an eagle as the company’s logo, in memory of their armory Giovanni Ravelli. The trio served together in the Royal Navy’s aviation arm, where they developed the idea of setting up a business to build innovative motorcycles as soon as the war ended. Ravelli died during a test flight in 1919 and his two friends decided to commemorate him with the symbol of the air division. The eagle has since become the symbol of Moto Guzzi and has quickly become a world-renowned brand.
This was the beginning of an industrial enterprise in Mandello del Lario – the factory where Moto Guzzi bicycles are still manufactured – that has fallen into the history of motorcycling, producing bicycles that have become part of the collective imagination: bicycles like the GT 500 Norge (1928) was driven by the founder, Carlo Guzzi’s brother Giuseppe, the Airone 250 (1939), the Galletto (1950), to the Arctic Circle, which drove mass motoring in the post-war period.
In the 1950s, the wind tunnel – a world first in the motorcycle industry, and still open for visits to the Mandello factory today – began the brainchild of a close-knit team of extraordinary engineers, including Umberto Todero, Enrico Cantoni and a designer whose name would quickly gain legendary status: Giulio Cesare Carcano, born in Milan, father of the incredible Otto Cilindri, or V8, with a top speed of 285 km / h (1955), and the prototypes that won 15 world speed titles and 11 Tourist Trophy titles between 1935 and 1957.
In the sixties, after the lightweight two-wheelers Stornello and Dingo, Moto Guzzi introduced the 700 cc 90 ° V twin engine with gimbal drive, which is destined to become the symbol of the Mandello manufacturer on legendary models such as the V7 Special, the V7 Sport, the California and the Le Mans. The engine has been continuously developed in this architecture and is today flanked by the latest electronic control features, offering the most popular Moto Guzzi two-wheelers, such as the V7 Series, the V9 Roamer and Bobber, and the great V85TT Tour, the world’s very first classic enduro.
To celebrate its centenary, the entire Moto Guzzi range is also available in the special Centennial Livery, only in an exclusive edition for 2021, inspired by the legendary Otto Cilindri renjaer.