History
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The company's first motorcycle was the legendary 8 HP Normale. This was followed by successful models such as the 1928 Guzzi G.T., dubbed “Norge” to commemorate the expedition to the Polar Arctic Circle, and the Airone 250 (1939), which remained Italy's best selling medium capacity motorcycle for over 15 years. In the meanwhile, the marque also notched up numerous racing successes. The first was in the prestigious Targa Florio in 1921, which marked the beginning of an impressive succession of victories: up until its withdrawal from motorsports in 1957, Moto Guzzi accumulated an enviable collection of accolades including, among other titles, an astonishing 14 world GP championships and 11 Tourist Trophies.
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The years following the Second World War spawned models such as the Guzzino 65 (“Cardellino”), which was Europe's best selling motorcycle for over a decade. This was followed by the legendary Galletto (1950) and the Lodola 175 (1956). In 1950, Moto Guzzi installed a state of the art wind tunnel at Mandello del Lario, making it the first constructor worldwide to do so. The company's racing division was a team of brilliant minds, with engineers such as Umberto Todero, Enrico Cantoni and the Milanese Giulio Cesare Carcano, who would soon achieve legendary status for creating the 285 Km/h Guzzi Otto Cilindri.
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At the end of the 1960s, Moto Guzzi presented the 90° V-twin engine that was to become the very symbol of Moto Guzzi itself. This powerplant was used as the basis for models such as the Guzzi V7, the V7 Special and yet another icon, the Guzzi V7 Sport. The glorious V-twin was also produced as smaller capacity V35 and V50 variants. The largest iteration of this engine powered the definitive Gran Turismo - the Moto Guzzi California, which evolved to include electronic injection and a triple-disc brake system. Dedicated to the US market, together with the Ambassador and Eldorado variants, the California boasted the classic 850 cc engine capacity, a displacement that has since been rediscovered and brought back into the current range. Models like the Le Mans, Daytona, Centauro and Sport 1100 kept the sports heritage of the marque alive. The unmistakable style and character of these bikes were brought right up to date in the 1990s with the new California, Nevada and V11 Sport series.
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On 30 December 2004 Moto Guzzi became a part of the Piaggio Group (chairman and managing director Roberto Colaninno), the European leader in the two-wheeler market and one of the world's major constructors in the sector. Expressing the spirit of this renaissance was the Breva 1100 presented in March 2005, a new and successful Italian offering for the naked segment. September that same year saw the widely acclaimed launch of the Griso 1100, a bike boasting original engineering solutions and unique styling. From April 2006, the Breva and Griso have also been offered with Guzzi's hallmark 850 cc engine size.
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In May 2006, the Norge 1200 marked Guzzi's return to the Gran Turismo genre: a bike offering total protection from the elements, the new 1200cc V-twin engine and uncompromisingly generous standard equipment for devouring miles in complete comfort. The Norge earned the admiration of the 14 journalists who, in July 2006, rode a convoy of the bikes 4,429 Km to Cape North, following the route taken in 1928 by the bike's predecessor - the GT 500 created by Giuseppe Guzzi.
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Moto Guzzi has answered the dreams of its loyal fans, and the sporting heart of the Mandello Eagle is beating once again: in March 2006 at the legendary Daytona circuit, Gianfranco Guareschi scored a historic double victory by winning both heats of the Battle of Twins. On 6 March 2007, Guareschi repeated the performance and won the following year's edition in the saddle of his trusty Moto Guzzi. Spurred by these racing victories on the other side of the Atlantic, a new model was created to embody the sporting spirit of Moto Guzzi - the 1200 Sport. Presented in October 2006, the 1200 Sport is a sophisticated naked, brimming with personality in every aspect of its design, chassis architecture and ergonomics, and powered by the latest 1200 cc generation of the 90° V-twin.
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A significant testimony to the brand's quality came when Guzzi won the contract to supply 35 Moto Guzzi Norge GTs to the Berlin police, while 20 Moto Guzzi California Vintage bikes were delivered to the Corazzieri Italian Presidential guard corps the same year. 2009 saw the introduction of the V7 Cafè, a sports variant of the V7 to join the existing Classic, presented in Rome together with the Griso SE in March, and of the Stelvio NTX, which marked the introduction of ABS on the Guzzi's maxi enduro. This bike, presented to the international press on the roads of the Dolomites, is powered by the first upgrade of the “Quattrovalvole” engine, with new camshafts.
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In late 2009 the Piaggio Group also announced a significant investment programme, which involves not only the development of future Moto Guzzi product ranges but also the Mandello del Lario production facility, where a major restructuring project is currently in progress to make the plant more modern, functional and efficient to reflect the rebirth of the brand.
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A spate of new Moto Guzzi models was also unveiled at the 2010 edition of EICMA Milan. The all-new family of large 1200 8V bikes with four valves per cylinder – namely the Stelvio 1200 8V, the Stelvio 1200 NTX and the Norge GT 8V – was presented at the show, while the press launch for the bikes was held on the roads of Tuscany in Spring 2011.
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2011 - the year of the 90th anniversary of Moto Guzzi - started off with a pleasant surprise: an all new version of the Moto Guzzi California. The prototype for the new California, powered by an all-new 1400 cc transverse 90° V-twin, reinterprets the legacy of a legendary motorcycle in an original new design that emphasises both the architecture of the engine and the generous dimensions of the saddle and the tank, which is sculpted around the cylinders.
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But 2011 has many more exciting things in store to mark the 90th birthday of the Eagle brand: on 15 March, the Piaggio Group celebrated the official anniversary of the foundation of Moto Guzzi with a highly anticipated announcement: Mandello del Lario will once again set the stage for the GMG event in mid September this year. Preparations are already under way for an extraordinary “90th Anniversary” edition of the Giornate Mondiali Guzzi, to give thousands of loyal Guzzisti from all over the world the chance to celebrate together with Moto Guzzi, discover the brand's future models and see at first hand the modernisation and restoration work to transform the historic Mandello del Lario factory into a modern production facility, in which ninety years of glorious motorcycle history live side by side with the latest manufacturing technology.
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2012 starts under the sign of the new V7 range. New engine, revamped design, brand new equipment: the legend of the V7 reaches its highest expression yet.
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Even before its presentation at the EICMA motor show in Milan, November 2012, the new Moto Guzzi California 1400 captured the attention of motorbike fans all over the world. The announcement heralding the debut of the new cruiser built in the historic factory in Mandello del Lario, and a few early rumours, were all it took to arouse curiosity and anticipation about the latest representative of a tradition that has established Moto Guzzi as an aristocrat among world motorcycle brands.
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The new California 1400 is a bike of firsts, starting from the 1400 engine, a record engine size for a V-twin motorcycle engine in Europe. The powerful 90° transverse V-twin, elastically mounted on a brand new chassis, delivers a torque of 120 Nm at just 2750 rpm.
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Everything on the California Touring and the California Custom contributes to combining the best of modern, cutting-edge technology with the classic style and elegance of the Moto Guzzi brand: multimap Ride by wWire accelerator, cruise control, MGCT traction control system and two-channel ABS. Hand built in the Mandello del Lario plant, where Moto Guzzi bikes have been turned out without interruption since 1921, the california 1400 models stand out for the attention to craftmanshipwith which each single component is assembled. A level of care that makes every Moto Guzzi California a unique piece, with the powe to match and accentuate the strong personality of a passionate and exlusive clientele.
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In 2017, to celebrate the fifty years since the birth of the first model, Moto Guzzi introduces V7 III, the third generation of the globally renowned and most beloved Moto Guzzi, completely revamped but leaving the originality and authenticity so typical of this iconic motorcycle unaltered.
Since 1967, the year the first units were sold in Italy, the V7 became a pillar of the product range and the representative of the Italian motorcycle par excellence, standing out for its content and design, highly popular with a truly transversal and varied public.
The challenge of introducing a new version of such a famous motorcycle with such a rich heritage and so much success is one of the most difficult, considering the fact that the V7, the brand's best-seller since 2009, constitutes the Moto Guzzi entry-level bike, dedicated to both women and men, in addition to young people who want to proudly own one of the most iconic Mandello del Lario production motorcycles.
V7 III is available in the three versions, Stone, Special and Racer that, compared with the past, now take on stronger connotations and greater characterization. Consistent with the other Moto Guzzi models in the range, the V7 III also has a dark version that stands out for its total black graphics. It is the Stone and a more classic one dominated by chroming, more in line with the design of the forerunner, which is the Special. The Racer, on the other hand, represents the successful sports heritage of Moto Guzzi, a winner of 15 world titles and 11 Tourist Trophies when the decision was made to retire from racing (in 1957). The V7 range has now been expanded: Moto Guzzi pays homage to fifty years of the V7 model by introducing a fourth version, called the Anniversario, a numbered and limited edition, characterized by brand new and exclusive details.
