MOTO GUZZI WITH A DIFFERENCE

August 2024, article by Uli Cloesen - Veni, vidi, vici, “I came, I saw, I conquered” is a well-known quote from the Roman general Julius Caesar about his lightning victory in the Battle of Zela in Asia Minor. The founding of the motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi didn't quite happen that quickly. Interestingly enough, over time, it even was involved in powering cars. But let’s start from the beginning.

 

Its founder Carlo Guzzi was born in 1889 in Milan, with his family later moving to Mandello del Lario. When Carlo became of age, he started working as an apprentice in the smithy/mechanics workshop of Mandello blacksmith Giorgio Ripamonti, where he developed a passion for motorcycle engines. This led to taking up a position at the engine testing department of Isotta Fraschini. But when the First World War broke out, he ended up enrolling at the Royal Marines as engine marshal, where he made friends with pilots Giovanni Ravelli and Giorgio Parodi. During this time, they schemed to building a motorcycle after the war. Ravelli later lost his life in an air accident, but Carlo Guzzi, undeterred, designed his first motorcycle in 1919 and set up the “Anonymous Moto Guzzi Society” in Genova in 1921 with financial backing from the Parodi family. Things took off from there and once production set off, Moto Guzzi overcame the 1930s crisis and the Second World War by building motorcycles for the army, however the company also built itself a reputation in motorcycle racing. Before abandoning the racing circuit in 1957, Moto Guzzi collected 11 world speed records, 14 world championships, 55 foreign championships and 50 national speed championships.

www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN/tradition/history

But Moto Guzzi also ventured into the world of four wheelers. In 1934 at the Lecco – Maggio hill climb, Carlo Guzzi’s second son Ulisse met Conte Giovanni Lurani, an automobile designer and racing driver, which led to a collaboration between them in Lurani creating the Nibbio (Kite) car in 1935, which became the first 500cc engined car to break the 100mph barrier, powered by a 46hp Guzzi motorcycle engine. In 1935 and 1938 the Nibbio set various speed records. In 1946, Lurani appeared again with the Nibbio, replacing the previous 500 cc two-cylinder engine with a 250cc supercharged camshaft single-cylinder engine. The vehicle sets 6 world records in Belgium. This particular Guzzi engine was later replaced by a 43 hp naturally aspirated engine and remained in the Nibbio until today.
Count Lurani later became one of the most important figures of the Italian history of motoring. In 2017, the Nibbio I car surprisingly won the Golden Cup at the Concours d'Elegance in Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, Italy.

Lurani Nibbio 1935. “Congratulations to Federico Göttsche Bebert, who won this year (2017) the COPPA D'ORO VILLA D'ESTE (Best of Show by Public Referendum at Villa d'Este) with his Lurani Nibbio”, source: Concorso d’Eleganza Villa D’Este facebook:
www.facebook.com/concorsodeleganzavilladeste/posts/congratulations-to-federico-g%C3%B6ttsche-bebert-who-won-this-years-coppa-doro-villa-/1445774695483003

The single seater Nibbio I was initially intended to sport a front wheel drive and a frontally mounted motorcycle engine, but it became apparent that fitting a front wheel drive to the Guzzi engine would have been too challenging, hence they reverted back to rear wheel drive. The wheels stemmed from Rudge Withworth and the windscreen was hand shaped by Bianchi of Touring Superleggera. The chassis was built by Quadrio works of Milan, out of aeronautical steel tubes, the aerodynamics helped by tests in Moto Guzzi’s wind tunnel and the final coachwork was hand beaten out of aluminium by Carrozzeria Riva. The Nibbio Mk also incorporated several technical innovations, including an advanced cooling system and optimized weight distribution to improve stability at high speeds.
The mid-1930s were a period of great success and innovation for Moto Guzzi. The commitment to competitions and the collaboration between key figures such as Giovanni Lurani and Ulisse Guzzi for the creation of the Nibbio I car demonstrated the company's ability to excel not only in the field of motorcycles, but also in special and ambitious projects.

Nibbio specs 1935. Engine: Moto Guzzi 120° twin-cylinder. Displacement: 500cc. Power: 50 HP. Speed: 160 km/h. Bodywork: Riva, Merate. Chassis: Tubular with lower axle Fiat 508.
Photo source:
www.facebook.com/concorsodeleganzavilladeste/posts/congratulations-to-federico-g%C3%B6ttsche-bebert-who-won-this-years-coppa-doro-villa-/1445774695483003
Nibbio specs 1946. Engine: Moto Guzzi single camshaft. Displacement: supercharged 250cc. Power: 46 HP. Speed: 182 km/h.

After WW II, Italy was still recovering from the effects of the conflict, hence financial constraints led to motorsport enthusiasts delving into building racing cars with displacements between 700 and 1100 cc. Many people butchered cars such as the Fiat 500 Topolino, a petite powerhouse in its day, that captured hearts and turned heads to go racing with to keep costs down, while others hand-beat racing car bodies out of aluminium, to great effect. Such cars effectively formed the backbone of Italian motorsport from the late 40s to the early 60s.
Such home built racers took to street circuits all over Italy, including the prestigious Mille Miglia or the Targa Florio. Some competitors even achieved good results at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, making them very popular in their classes. As a result, brand names like Stanguellini or Bandini emerged out of the passion for racing in Italy and etched themselves into the consciousness of followers of Italian motorsport.

Gino Cavanna on La Vetturetta (unknown source). La Vetturetta specs 1952. Engine: Moto Guzzi twin-cylinder. Displacement: 500cc.

In 1948, Gino Cavanna set several speed records with FB Mondial and Moto Guzzi. On a sidecar, powered by a Guzzi 250 compressor, he achieved four records, while in 1952 he set another eighteen on the Munich-Ingolstadt motorway. Cavanna was initially racing cars, before switching to motorcycles, hence in the 50s, it was no problem for him designing and racing the La Vetturetta car (The little car), equipped with the renowned Moto Guzzi 500cc two-cylinder engine. The car was used during competitions on mountain roads and circuits without any body work, but from 1958 on, it got clad in metal. It still works perfectly today and is often used in various motorcycle rallies. During the 2017 Moto Guzzi Days in Mandello, someone filmed a video showing Enrico Cantoni (who contributed with Umberto Todero & Giulio Carcano to the development of the 285 Km/h fast Guzzi V8 project) posing in the Vetturetta car. On a side note, Enrico Cantoni passed away on 18 December 2021, at the age of 95. Gino Cavanna on the other hand was developing a new torpedo car with an eight-cylinder Guzzi engine when the Mandello company's withdrawal from racing in 1957 was announced, due to rising costs and falling motorcycle sales. Cavanna died in 1974 at the age of 68.

Nibbio 2, 1935, photo source: www.museoauto.com/en

In 1955, Count Giovanni Lurani was at it again in building the Nibbio II car. It turned out again to be a record breaker, equipped with independent 4-wheel suspension and powered by a Guzzi single cylinder motorcycle engine. The car body came from Ghia, designed by Giovanni Savonuzzi. The Nibbio II set several international speed records in the 350cc class at the Monza circuit, driven by Giovanni Lurani, Piero Campanella and Angelo Piaggio. The car can be seen at the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile in Turin.

Moto Guzzi Nibbio I technical drawing (unknown author).

Nibbio 2, photo Uli Cloesen. Nibbio II specs. Engine: Moto Guzzi single-cylinder single-shaft engine. Displacement: 350cc. Power: 39 HP at 7500 rpm. Speed: 185 km/h. Weight: 350kg. Chassis: Volpini. Bodywork: Ghia.

After 1957, Moto Guzzi decided to refocus its resources and efforts on product development and diversification rather than investing heavily in racing. The company was going through a crisis, due to cars becoming more accessible and desirous for families, while motorcycle sales were plummeting. Guzzi’s engineer Carcano worked hard to find new technical and industrial paths to give Moto Guzzi a commercial boost. He then focused from 1958 on in developing two 90 degrees 500cc V-twin engines. One was intended to be tested on a Fiat 500 owned and driven by himself, the second version, named 3x3 was intended for the army.
By 1963, a new prototype was ready and mounted on a Fiat 500 D. Good results prompted Moto Guzzi to report their achievements to car maker Fiat. A car was then brought to Turin and trialled by Fiat for three months before being returned with a letter of appreciation for its brilliant performance, but with no mention of an agreement for any possible use of the Moto Guzzi engine, hence the idea of a Guzzi-Fiat engine marriage petered off in the sand.
The year 1959 marked the appearance of the Moto Guzzi Cobra, born from a project by Giulio Carcano assisted by Enrico Cantoni and *Ermanno Bazzocchi from Aermacchi. It ran on four wheels, with two double rear wheels and featured the Moto Guzzi 250 compressor engine. The car was characterized by very low ground clearance, so much so that the rider drove it completely lying down. In June 1959, on the stretch of Autostrada del Sol between Parma and Reggio Emilia, it established 4 world speed records with Gino Cavanna behind the wheel. The Cobra surpassed the record that Lurani had set with the Nibbio 12 years earlier.
*Ermanno Bazzocchi worked mainly at the Aeronautica Macchi of Varese where he designed various successful aircraft models.

Moto Guzzi Cobra, photo Uli Cloesen. Cobra specs 1959. Engine: Moto Guzzi single camshaft. Displacement: 250 cc with compressor. Power: 46 HP. Speed: 232 km/h.

The Moto Guzzi Colibri (Hummingbird) car appeared in 1963. It was based on a Stanguellini tubular chassis and specifically designed for long-distance driving. Intially designed to house the 500 cm³ "8C" engine from Moto Guzzi, set aside a few years earlier, after Moto Guzzi's withdrawal from Moto GP, but for cost reasons equipped with a 248 cm³ air-cooled twin-cam single-cylinder engine with 5-speed gearbox, derived from the "Gambalunghino" racer. it clocked up six world records on the high-speed track in Monza in October 1963, driven by Angelo Poggio and Pietro Campanella. The all-aluminium aerodynamic body work was designed by Franco Scaglione and built by Vaccari & Baccrini-Carrozzeria Gransport. The car is nowadays on display in the Museo Stanguellini in Modena. It’s worth knowing that in 1962 the Italian drivers association ANCAI awarded Vittorio Stanguellini the world trophy for manufacturers of Formula Junior cars. While in Modena, the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums also lend themselves for a visit. To round it up, drive another 50 km and take in the Ducati Museum too, to make it a full motoring package.

Stanguellini Colibrì (1963) by Aiace90. Colibri specs 1963. Engine: Moto Guzzi twin-cam single-cylinder. Displacement: 250 cc. Power: 29 HP. Speed: 168 km/h. Frame: Stanguellini. Bodywork: Gransport. Dry weight: 310 kg.

To sum it up, these Moto Guzzi powered vehicles highlighted the company's innovative spirit and diverse technical capabilities. Such record-breaking cars reflected Moto Guzzi's automotive efforts to push boundaries and potentially meet different market needs in its day.
By Uli Cloesen (motorcycle journalist from New Zealand).
www.ulicloesen.com

MOTO GUZZI HISTORY:
www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN/tradition/history

MOTO GUZZI MUSEUM:
www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN/tradition/museum