The All-Italian MAGNI

round four years ago, Bruce Hollow was at Sydney Motor Sports Park taking in the sights of the annual Festival of Speed when he spied a sandwich board sitting outside the pit garage occupied by Steve Leembruggen, boss of Old Gold Motorcycles and a keen Historic racer himself. The board contained photos of bikes currently on offer, plus shots of a few that were being prepared for shipment from Japan. The one that really caught Bruce’s eye was a vivid yellow Magni Moto Guzzi, so he thought about it overnight before talking to Steve the next day. “We just discussed the price and when it would be in Sydney, shook hands and the deal was done”, says Bruce. “Steve was great to deal with, I was happy with the price and everyone said ‘You got a bargain’. In the eighties, there was plenty of money around in Japan and Magni sold quite a few bikes there. I have seen videos of gatherings of social rides from the period with several Magnis in the shots, so there certainly were a few in Japan.” Arturo Magni himself is