A CENTURY OF INDUSTRIAL HISTORY, TECHNOLOGICAL AND DESIGN ADVANCEMENTS, AND SPORT COMPETITIONS. A CENTURY OF LOVE FOR THE ITALIAN BIKES FROM MANDELLO WHICH HAVE CROSSED BORDERS, AND LOVE FOR MOTORCYCLING IN ALL ITS EXPRESSIONS. STORIES, CHARACTERS AND NEVER BEFORE SEEN IMAGES ARE CONTAINED IN A PRECIOUS VOLUME.
August 2021 – It’s right here on the desk in our editorial department: beautiful, elegant, inviting. We open the front cover, breathe in the scent of the paper, thumb through the coated pages, read here and there, enraptured by the rich images. And soon we find ourselves immersed in a fantastic, century long adventure that is already looking ahead to the next one hundred years. More than just a beautiful celebratory book, Moto Guzzi 100 anni (published by Rizzoli Illustrati) is a valuable work of art, to be owned and given as a gift, that recounts a story of excellence and innovation. As Roberto Colaninno, CEO and Managing Director of Piaggio & C. S.p.A., points out in the preface, also highlighting the unique character of the bond between Moto Guzzi bikes and their fans, based on shared values and genuine passion.
Jeffrey Schnapp with his Moto Guzzi California 1400.
The book, edited by Jeffrey Schnapp, includes the contributions of ten authoritative international people who celebrate their love for Moto Guzzi. Ten authors, distinct and distant in terms of culture, origin, personal history and education, tell of their passion for the splendid Italian bikes.
The back-cover text reads: “Moto Guzzi turns 100 years old. 100 years filled with passion, success, fascinating stories, inventions, and the pure joy of riding motorcycles that leave a mark on the soul. An author (Melissa Holbrook Pierson), an actor (Ewan McGregor), an architect (Greg Lynn), three journalists (Marco Masetti, Mat Oxley, and Akira Nishimura), a disc jockey (Dj Ringo), a designer (Tom Dixon), an astronaut (Paolo Nespoli), and a culture historian (Jeffrey Schnapp) celebrate the Eagle’s centennial by recounting their way of being Guzzisti. Between their stories are chapters that explore aspects of the past, the present, and the future of the company from Mandello del Lario, enhanced by a collection of images dedicated to vehicles, places and regular or famous people who have built the brand’s history.”
It is a testament of the unique character of Moto Guzzi, a brand which, over the span of one hundred years from its birth, continues to embody the values of its ingenious founders. Since 1921, every single Moto Guzzi that has travelled the roads of the world has been assembled by hand in the Mandello del Lario plant with painstaking care and love for the product. This deep authenticity is the distinctive trait of every Moto Guzzi and it is the value that ten authors all over the world recognise and share. From London to Hollywood, from Tokyo to Sardinia, from Vermont to Mandello del Lario. A common thread binds those who love Moto Guzzi and what these motorcycles represent - a passion that provides a common language for vastly different and distant people and stories.
It is not, nor is it intended to be a book that merely “compiles” one hundred years of history, products, and events. It is instead, first and foremost, a moving book that introduces or lets the reader rediscover what Moto Guzzi represents worldwide. In short, it is more than just a book. And to appreciate it and be astonished by it... you don't have to be a motorcyclist.
On the cover of Moto Guzzi 100 anni(Italian edition, 231 pages, bound, published by Rizzoli Illustrati; the English version is scheduled for autumn 2021): the Moto Guzzi 350 bialbero, one of the most victorious motorcycles in motorcycling history. It was practically unbeatable from its début in 1953 until 1957, the year Moto Guzzi withdrew from racing. In five seasons, it dominated World Championship GP Motorcycle Racing, earning eight world titles - five Rider championships and three Manufacturer championships.
ALSO READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE DEDICATED TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK ‘MOTO GUZZI 100 ANNI’.
wide.piaggiogroup.com/en/articles/events/presentation-of-moto-guzzi-100-anni
