This is a rare, original Maserati Regolarità scrambler, a motorcycle that even many longtime fans of classic motorcycles have never heard of. Including me.
The fact that Maserati used to make motorcycles is reasonably well-known, but not many realize that the company that made Maserati motorcycles wasn’t directly connected to the Maserati automobile marque. In fact the two companies no longer had any direct connection at all.
Maserati Motorcycles – Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati
Although it might seem odd that both the automobile and motorcycle factories built vehicles fitted with the same Maserati trident badge and name, the only reason this was possible is because of an incompetent notary.
In the early 1950s the company was separated into three unique entities – Maserati Automobili who built the cars, Fonderie di Modena which was the foundry, and Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati which made lightbulbs and spark plugs.
A mistake was made by the notary while separating off Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati, and they were left with the full legal right to use the official Maserati logo, which they did with some considerable success throughout the 1950s.
In post-WW2 Italy there was strong demand for cheap motorised transportation which was filled by companies like Lambretta, Vespa, Ducati, and Italmoto. Management at Fabbrica Candele e Accumulatori Maserati realised the market existed for a range of Maserati motorcycles and they were uniquely positioned to sell them with no penalty because of the aforementioned issue with the notary.
The company bought Italmoto in 1953 and moved the production equipment from Bologna to their factory in Modena. A range of simple, small capacity motorcycles were badged with the Maserati name and trident, and they immediately began to sell well thanks to the name recognition.
Maserati motorcycles were some of the best in the country at the time, and no small amount of prestige was transferred due to the halo effect that came from the racing successes being had by Maserati Automobili on the race tracks of Europe and the USA.
One of the reasons for the quality of the Maserati motorcycles was the fact that the engines were mostly designs licensed from German marque DKW, well engineered power units by the standard of the day with excellent spare parts availability.
The first in-house developed motorcycle was the Maserati 125 Tipo T2, it was soon followed by a number of others with engine sizes ranging from 50cc, to 75cc, 125cc, 160cc, and 250cc.
The 1956 Maserati Regolarità Scrambler Shown Here
The bike you see here is an exceptionally rare Maserati Regolarità scrambler, very little is known about the Regolarità and there’s almost no information available on the model.
It’s believed that this bike was built in this configuration by the factory, and it certainly looks like it, it was also road registered in this configuration in Italy in the 1950s.
Unlike the road-going examples of Maserati motorcycles the Regolarità scrambler features knobbly tires, high-mounted front and rear fenders, braced handlebars, a wire stone guard over the headlight, and a high-exhaust.
The bike was comprehensively restored two years ago and no presents in almost as-new condition. It’s thought to be worth between €11,000 to €15,000 and it’ll be crossing the auction block with Artcurial on the 17th of June.
Images courtesy of Artcurial
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
