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  • Motorcycle Classics

    MINIATURE MARVEL

    Dec 14, 2018 5 minutes
    Story by Hamish Cooper
    Photos by Phil Aynsley

    One of the most intriguing chapters in the history of multi-cylinder Grand Prix racing is Ducati’s 125cc 4-cylinder. First sketched out on paper by Fabio Taglioni in the 1950s, then half-heartedly developed to a semi-prototype stage in 1958, the project was revived in 1965.

    It underwent a year of testing and development, but was never raced. After being sent around the motorcycle show circuit it mysteriously disappeared. In 1989 the engine was discovered in Latvia and later the frame uncovered in Yugoslavia. In 2000 the machine was restored back to original condition and it now resides in the Morbidelli Museum in Pesaro, Italy.

    What were the circumstances that led to its creation? What made it so special in Ducati’s history but so quickly forgotten? Was it a potential world beater?

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