This article was written by Paul Brace, a life-long bike enthusiast with a background in professional engineering and restoration, including the design and construction of the Eagle E-Type Speedster. I was looking for a lovely 916 for years but ‘the one’ never turned up. I would have been very happy with an exceptional standard 916…
The legendary NCR workshop played a significant role in the early competition life of Ducati, perhaps most famously they built the special 900cc race bike that Mike Hailwood piloted to his seemingly impossible comeback win at the the 1978 Formula One TT at the Isle of Man. NCR was founded in 1967 as a small motorcycle…
The Apollo 3500 GT is an American/Italian grand tourer that was intended to compete with the likes of Aston Martin, Jaguar, Ferrari, and Maserati. It featured an all-American drivetrain and running gear mostly supplied by Buick, with an American-designed body that was built by Italians. Although we often associate global supply chains with the modern…
Just 5 examples of the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona NART Spider were ever built, the car was a special order from Italian racing driver turned US Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti, it has the underpinnings of a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona with a sleek body penned by celebrated Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. Chinetti commissioned the first Michelotti…
The Bimota SB2 was a significant evolutionary step forward for motorcycles when it was released in 1977. Massimo Tamburini had designed not just a superbike, but the future of superbikes. His new creation featured an ultra-lightweight chromium molybdenum trellis perimeter frame, a bulletproof Suzuki GS750 DOHC engine that doubled as a stressed member, and handling…
The Lamborghini Miura P400 SV was the third, final, and fastest major iteration of the world’s first supercar. The Miura was a design and engineering revelation when it was first shown to the public at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, the chassis had been shown a year before at the 1965 show in Turin where…
The Ducati 900 Mike Hailwood Replica was the best-selling Ducati of its time, both because of its sporting abilities and its close association with Mike “The Bike” Hailwood who had ridden a Ducati 900SS to a hugely popular comeback win at the 1978 Isle of Man TT in the Formula I class. Mike Hailwood –…
The Alpinestars Distance Fleece is a retro sweater from the Italian motorcycle gear manufacturer designed to reference the styling of the ’60s and ’70s – the era when the company was first established and making a name for itself. Alpinestars was founded by Sante Mazzarolo in the early 1960s in the Northern Italian town of…
The 562 bhp V8 in the back of the Ferrari 458 won both the “Best Performance Engine” and the “Above 4-Litre” category at the 2011 International Engine of the Year awards. Though it’s no longer in production it’s revered as one of the all-time great V8s – with a screaming red line of 9,000 rpm and 398…
The Spidi X-Village Boots are daily-wearable motorcycle boots that offer protection while riding, without compromising on comfort while walking. The Daily-Wearable Motorcycle Boot Problem With motorcycle boots there’s always a trade-off between safety and comfort, at one extreme you have MotoGP-level boots that are almost impossible to walk in, and at the other extreme you have…
The Ducati 750 Sport is an exceedingly rare motorcycle that sits squarely between its two more famous siblings – the Ducati 750 GT and the Ducati 750 Super Sport (SS). Put simply, the Ducati 750 Sport (also known as the 750S) was a higher-performance version of the slightly more consumer-friendly 750 GT.
Whenever I see a Maserati motorcycle at a show I have to go over for a closer look and chat to the owner, they’re a rare sight nowadays, and there are many who have no idea that motorcycles were ever built by the Italian company far more famous for their performance cars. Maserati Motorcycles – Fabbrica…
