Record breaker: The Guzzino!

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The Moto Guzzi Motoleggera 65 (a.k.a. “Guzzino”) was designed by Antonio Micucci and manufactured by the famous Lombard company from 1946 to 1954.

The model was meant to be a swift and inexpensive means of transportation for Italians who needed to get to work every day in those challenging post-war years.

Easy to drive and weighing in at only 45 kilograms, the Guzzino – with the addition of a fairing to reduce drag – was also a great vehicle for sport competitions and record-breaking performances. In 1948, on the road between Charrat and Saxon in Switzerland, it set the world speed record over the kilometer and the mile; later in the same year, it set another 19 records at Monza’s racetrack.

The Guzzino kept going faster and faster as the years went by. It was restyled more than once, finally coming close to resembling a rocket: pilots had to ride in a position known as “the frog”, with their knees around the fairing that protected the chain, and their feet on the foot boards on the back of the frame.

By the time production stopped in 1954, almost 72,000 Guzzini were zooming around in the streets, in Italy and abroad: for 10 years it was the best-selling “motoleggera” (the Italian term for motorbikes under 100cc) in Europe.

Another record, for the record-breaking Guzzino.

Photos via www.museoscienza.org
www.motoclub-tingavert.it

 

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1st March 1949: Italian motorcyclist Raffaele Alberti at speed on his strange-looking 75cc Moto Guzzi during his successful attempt at the world motorcycle speed record, on the road between Charrat and Saxon in Switzerland. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

1st March 1949: Italian motorcyclist Raffaele Alberti at speed on his strange-looking 75cc Moto Guzzi during his successful attempt at the world motorcycle speed record, on the road between Charrat and Saxon in Switzerland. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

 

Source: http://www.italianways.com/the-record-breaking-guzzino/