Many Italian motorcycle makes did not start with motorcycles. Ducati made radio parts, Aermacchi and MV Agusta built aircraft, Laverda made farm machinery and Innocenti steel tubes. And why are there so many small bikes of 50, 125 and 175 cc? This page tells you how that came about.

In 1945 Italy lay in ruins. Bombs had destroyed factories, railways, roads and ports. Money was worth little and petrol was scarce. Almost nobody could afford a car.

What was possible was a bicycle with a small engine. Such an engine was cheap, easy to maintain and very economical: some did almost 100 kilometres on a litre. The Ducati Cucciolo of 1946 sold more than 400,000 in about ten years. The Garelli Mosquito was already around in 1945.

At the same time many factories had no work. Under the peace treaty Italy was no longer allowed to build aircraft. Aircraft makers such as Agusta, Macchi and Piaggio had machines, skilled people and experience with light construction. They used them to build scooters, motorcycles and three-wheelers. A three-wheeler like the Aermacchi MB1 or the Vespa Ape was exactly what shopkeepers and farmers needed.

Ducati · started with radios · 1926
In 1926 Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his sons Adriano, Bruno and Marcello founded the Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna. Their first success was the Manens, a capacitor for radios. Later they also made radios, binoculars, shavers and calculators. By 1935 some 7000 people worked at the factory in Borgo Panigale. On 12 October 1944 that factory was bombed. In 1946 Ducati started again with the Cucciolo, a small engine for a bicycle.

Aermacchi · started with seaplanes · 1912
Aeronautica Macchi of Varese began in 1912 as an aircraft maker, first with licences from the French Nieuport. In 1934 a Macchi seaplane set a speed record of over 700 km/h. During the war the factory was bombed. Afterwards a road transport division was set up: first the three-wheeler MB1, from 1951 the Cigno and later the well-known horizontal singles.

MV Agusta · started with aircraft · 1923
Count Giovanni Agusta founded an aircraft factory in Samarate in 1923. After the war the peace treaty barred Italy from building aircraft. To save the company and the jobs, Meccanica Verghera was set up in 1945, and in 1946 the MV 98 went into production. From 1952 Agusta built helicopters again, under licence from the American Bell.

Piaggio (Vespa) · started with bombers · 1946
Piaggio built aircraft before and during the war. The factory in Pontedera was destroyed by bombs. Afterwards Enrico Piaggio wanted a cheap means of transport for everyone. Aircraft engineer Corradino D’Ascanio designed a scooter without a chain that was easy to step onto. The patent was filed on 23 April 1946: the Vespa. It only really started selling once you could buy it on hire purchase.

Innocenti (Lambretta) · started with steel tubes · 1947
Ferdinando Innocenti made steel tubes, first in Rome and from 1931 in a large factory in Milan. That factory was heavily bombed during the war. Afterwards he wanted a simple, strong and affordable scooter. In 1947 came the Lambretta A, named after the Lambrate district where the factory stood.

Iso · started with refrigeration and heating equipment · 1939
In 1939 Renzo Rivolta bought Isothermos, a maker of refrigeration and heating equipment. After the war he switched to scooters and motorcycles, such as the Isoscooter. In 1953 came the Isetta, and later even sports cars.

Garelli · started with compressors for aircraft · 1919
Adalberto Garelli devised the split-single in 1912 and started his make near Milan in 1919. Before the war Garelli also made compressors for aircraft. In 1945 came the Mosquito, a 38.5 cc engine that was fitted to a bicycle.

Rumi · started with a foundry · after 1945
The Rumi family had a foundry in Bergamo making parts for textile machines. During the war it made weapons and even midget submarines. Afterwards Donnino Rumi started building motorcycles, such as the Formichino.

Laverda · started with farm machinery · 1873
Pietro Laverda started making farm machinery in Breganze in 1873. His grandson Francesco Laverda founded Moto Laverda in October 1949. The first motorcycle was the Laverda 75.

Benelli · started with a repair workshop · 1911
In 1911 six Benelli brothers started a repair workshop in Pesaro. Their widowed mother Teresa put the family money into it. In 1919 their first 75 cc engine on a bicycle frame appeared, and in 1921 the first real motorcycle.

Moto Guzzi · started with the naval air service · 1921
Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Parodi served in the Italian naval air service in the First World War, together with pilot Giovanni Ravelli. On 15 March 1921 they founded Moto Guzzi. Ravelli had been killed in a test flight in 1919; the eagle in the logo is in his memory.

Bianchi · started with bicycles · 1885
Edoardo Bianchi opened a small bicycle shop in Milan in 1885. In 1897 he built a bicycle with an engine and in 1910 a real motorcycle. After the war Bianchi made, among others, the Aquilotto.

Bimota · started with air ducts and heating · 1973
Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri and Massimo Tamburini made air ducts for air conditioning in Rimini. In 1973 they founded Bimota: the name comes from the first letters of their surnames. See the Bimota SB2.

Cagiva · started with small metal parts · 1950
From 1950 Giovanni Castiglioni made small metal parts in Varese. Cagiva stands for CAstiglioni GIovanni VArese. In 1978 his sons bought the old Aermacchi factory and started building motorcycles.

Little money and expensive petrol. A small motorcycle was cheaper to buy and more economical. For most people a 125 was already a big step.

No licence needed. According to motorcycle journalist Nico Cereghini, in 1956 you still did not need a licence in Italy for a 125; above that you did. Anyone who wanted a 192 cc Guzzi Galletto therefore had to take a test. That made a 125 an easy choice.

The 1959 law. On 15 June 1959 the first real Italian highway code came into force, the Codice della Strada. From then on you needed a licence for every motorcycle, except mopeds up to 50 cc, the ciclomotori. That is why Italian makes built so many 50 cc models in the sixties and seventies, such as the Morini Corsarino.

Racing in the 175 class. In the fifties the 175 was the most important class, both in the showroom and on the road. Long road races such as the Milano–Taranto and the Motogiro d’Italia had classes for light motorcycles, and a win there was the best advertising. That is why Benelli, Gilera, Mondial, Parilla and others all had a sporting 175.

And the tax? We could not find a reliable source on whether road tax at the time also depended on engine size. So we say nothing about it here. Do you know, with a source? Let us know.

When Italy did better in the fifties, families wanted a roof over their heads. That is where the small cars came in. The Fiat 500 Topolino had existed since 1936, but was a two-seater. The fridge maker Iso came in 1953 with the Isetta, an egg on wheels with the door at the front. In 1957 came the Fiat Nuova 500 and the smarter Autobianchi Bianchina. Almost 3.9 million Nuova 500s were built.

That made life harder for many scooter and motorcycle factories. Rumi stopped making motorcycles around 1960. Other makes focused more on sporting bikes, motocrossers and mopeds.