Various off-road Scrambles/Motocross/International Six Day Trial (ISDT) events grew throughout the 1950s spreading through Northern Europe, Britain and the US. Ducati entered their standard small capacity machines until the creation of the 250cc Italian off-road championship in 1956. The resultant Ducati 175 and 250 Motocross (released in 1959) was a unique hand-made and very expensive machine, solely for competition use and the subject for another story. Poor sales ended production in 1961 angering US Ducati dealers needing a machine for their huge off-road market. The US Importer (Berliner Motor Corporation) told Ducati to build them a more basic ‘fast and light’ off-road Ducati as US off-road racing was on smooth desert type tracks.
The Scrambler is born
The result was the 1962 Ducati “Scrambler”, which was really just a modified road bike and this design strategy continued to the last Ducati single. The first Scrambler (still called the Motocross in Europe) was designed by Renzo Neri. It featured the new 250cc OHC 4 stroke engine upgraded to 9:1 compression with a hotter cam and a 27mm SS1 carby and air-cleaner. It came fitted with the round peanut tank of the former Motocross, lightweight mudguards, high level exhaust, high handlebars and was painted Kingfisher blue and silver, matching the road models. There was no muffler, centre stand, horn or speedo. The Scrambler came with an extra set of control cables, spare valve adjustment caps, a set of rigid struts (to replace the rear dampers) for flat track racing, a tachometer drive unit, three additional rear sprockets (with 45, 50 and 60 teeth)
