Add Moto Guzzi to the very short list of manufacturers capable of saying it has been around for 100 years. Today – March 15, 2021 – marks the 100-year mark for one of Italy’s famous motorcycle brands, which can also claim that each of its models, from the beginning, was launched from the same door in Mandello del Lario.
Although we originally intended to write a brief history of the brand, highlighting the main achievements along the way, the Moto Guzzi press release itself does a good job of covering the brand’s last 100 years.
As you can imagine, Moto Guzzi has achieved a lot in the last century, including capturing 14 world championships, some land speed records and the successful completion of a trip to the Arctic Circle – in 1928. Today we don’t really think of the brand as one pushing the limits of technology and innovation, but in the early years of Guzzi his motorcycles had only one cylinder and an external steering wheel next to the pilot’s left foot to keep the dimensions of the engine small.
Moto Guzzi even tried out a V8 engine – the Ottocilindri (eight cylinders) – for the 1955-1957 Grand Prix seasons. With only 500 cc, the engine had two controls on the head, liquid cooling and a separate carburetor for each cylinder. It was capable of reaching 172 mph, but it was incredibly dangerous to drive, even for the time, as the tires, suspension, brakes and chassis could not keep up with the incredible speed that the engine could produce. The project ended up being discarded and it would take another 20 years before Grand Prix motorcycles could reach the 172 mph mark.
Today, Moto Guzzi motorcycles are best known for their quirks (some would say they are charming), mounted laterally in V-Twins. With each cylinder protruding from the sides, Moto Guzzis would tilt to the side as you rotated them in one stop. Performance is no longer part of the appeal, but character, style and elegance are now the brand’s strengths.
It is fair to say that Moto Guzzi has aged well over the past century. Whether you like it or not, the brand occupies a special place in the history of motorcycling. Check below the official press release of the brand celebrating its achievement. There you can get a brief history of the start of the company, as well as other milestones achieved over the years.
After that, get ready for a giant photo gallery with almost 400 photos featuring the Mandello del Lario factory, the company’s founders, the first racing drivers and several models over the years.
Happy birthday, Moto Guzzi. Here’s another 100.
Start the press release:
On March 15, 2021, Moto Guzzi will celebrate its first 100 legendary years.
A century of history, splendid motorcycles, triumphs, adventures and extraordinary personalities, who together built the legendary Marca da Águia. Moto Guzzi celebrates this exceptional milestone at a time when it is enjoying a new successful season.
The range of motorcycles has been extensively renewed, with the introduction of state-of-the-art technical resources in terms of electronic aids for the rider, while the brand’s style and authenticity values have been kept intact. Each Moto Guzzi is built at the Mandello del Lario factory with handmade care and the commitment to a unique and authentic identity, skillfully balancing the classic style of Moto Guzzi with cutting edge technology and reflecting a construction philosophy that creates an exclusive relationship between the bike and the rider.
The President and CEO of the Piaggio Group, Roberto Colaninno, said: “The centenary of Moto Guzzi is a proud moment both for the Piaggio Group, to which the Eagle brand joined in 2004, and for the Italian industry as a whole, not just for the motorcycle industry. Capacity for innovation, boldness to go ahead of the times, competitive spirit, love for the product and meticulous attention to the quality of production are the skills that over the years Moto Guzzi combines with its unique relationship with the local community. Since 1921, all Moto Guzzi bikes that have gone to the world have been built at the Mandello factory, where the company was born exactly one hundred years ago. All of this will continue throughout its second century of history. Moto Guzzi is an example of totally Italian excellence, ” added Colaninno. “He entered the history of our country without ever losing his youthful spirit and continues to inspire a genuine passion among thousands of Guzzi bikers around the world.”
The eagle logo, the unmistakable emblem of Moto Guzzi, alone helped to create the legend of a brand that has always been inextricably linked to the history of Italy.
The open-winged eagle goes back to the military service of the company’s founders, Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi, in the aviation arm of the Italian Royal Navy during the First World War. It was during the war that the two friends and the pilot Giovanni Ravelli decided to enter the manufacture of motorcycles as soon as the conflict ended. Ravelli died in an accident in 1919 and was never able to fulfill his dream. Guzzi and Parodi chose the Eagle as a symbol to commemorate their companion.
Over its hundred years, Moto Guzzi has won victories on racing circuits around the world, raising the Italian flag to an impressive 14 world championship titles. It was the speed record, the symbol of the growth of a country that looks to the future, the police force and army motorcycle, and extended its vocation to the international scene, equipping the Californian Police and, more recently, police forces in Berlin and many other European cities, as well as the escort of sovereign in Jordan. Moto Guzzi is also the motorcycle of the Corazzieri, the elite body that accompanies the President of the Italian Republic.
From the beginning, Moto Guzzi has been the motorcycle of choice for long distance travel. It was in 1928 when Giuseppe Guzzi reached the Arctic Circle in his GT “Norge”, starting a tradition that still lingers, with travelers embarking on their Moto Guzzi every day, somewhere in the world, destined for distant lands.
Today, Moto Guzzi is a central division of the Piaggio Group, a leading European manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, which has retained the original characteristics of Moto Guzzi, promoted its values and put it back in a vanguard position.
The return to competitive racing with the Moto Guzzi Fast Endurance Trophy, to be held this year on a European scale, and a new family of motorcycles has brought Moto Guzzi back to a privileged position in the market and presented its name to a younger audience. THE Classic V7, which has just come out on the new 850 double cylinder, and the classic enduro V85TT designed for travel and designed to provide comfort and ease of driving, they are the bestsellers of a brand that has been on the rise for several years.
Moto Guzzi has always been admired and respected by bikers around the world, whatever their motorcycle, and bikers will be the protagonists of the World Moto Guzzi Days in Mandello del Lario from 9 to 12 September, the event featured the Moto Guzzi centenary festivities, the main celebration of this very special anniversary.
The Moto Guzzi World Days have always been an unmissable occasion for motorcyclists and are now making their long-awaited return, ten years after the last edition. Tens of thousands of enthusiasts will arrive from all corners of the planet to enjoy a unique and unforgettable event, made possible thanks to the collaboration between Moto Guzzi, the Comitato Motoraduno Internazionale and the municipality of Mandello del Lario.
***100 YEARS OF HISTORY OF THE MOST AUTHENTIC NAME OF THE WORLD MOTORCYCLE
On March 15, 1921, the company “Società Anonima Moto Guzzi” was created, for the “manufacture and sale of motorcycles and any other activity related to or linked to the metalworking industry”. It was at that moment that the founders, Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi, chose the eagle with open wings as the company logo, in memory of their companion in arms Giovanni Ravelli. The trio served together in the Royal Navy Aviation branch, where they developed the idea of starting a company to build innovative motorcycles as soon as the war ended. Ravelli died in 1919 during a test flight and his two friends decided to honor him with the symbol of the air division. The eagle has been the symbol of Moto Guzzi ever since and has quickly become a world famous brand.
This was the beginning of an industrial enterprise based in Mandello del Lario – in the factory where Moto Guzzi motorcycles are still manufactured today – which has entered the history of world motorcycling, producing motorcycles that have become part of the collective imagination: bikes like the GT 500 Norge (1928) driven to the Arctic Circle by the brother of founder Carlo Guzzi, Giuseppe, the Airone 250 (1939), the Galletto (1950), who boosted mass motorization in the post-war period.
The 1950s saw the debut of the wind tunnel – a worldwide innovation in the motorcycle industry, and still open for visits today at the Mandello factory – the idea of a united team of extraordinary engineers, including Umberto Todero, Enrico Cantoni and a designer whose name quickly acquired legendary status: the Milanese Giulio Cesare Carcano, father of the incredible Otto Cilindri, or V8, with a maximum speed of 285 km / hour (1955), and the prototypes that won 15 world speed titles and 11 Tourist Trophy titles between 1935 and 1957.
In the 1960s, after the lightweight two-wheeled vehicles Stornello and Dingo, Moto Guzzi launched the 700 cc 90 ° V-twin engine with final cardan transmission, destined to become the symbol of the manufacturer Mandello in legendary models such as the V7 Special, V7 Sport, California and Le Mans. The engine has been consistently evolved in this architecture and today, flanked by state-of-the-art electronic control features, it powers the most popular two-wheel vehicles from Moto Guzzi, such as the V7 range, the V9 Roamer and Bobber, and the large V85TT tourer, oo first classic enduro.
To celebrate the centenary, the entire Moto Guzzi range is also available on the Centennial Livery special, in an exclusive edition only for 2021, inspired by the legendary Otto Cilindri pilot.