After Ferrari, Ducati is one of Italy's most famous products - in any field, let alone motorcycling. Making radio components before WW2, after the war they turned to making cheap two-wheeled transport for the masses but it wasn't long before the competition bug took hold and the rest is history.

The History of Ducati

After World War Two, Italy was on its knees in every sense. In order to get the country mobile again, the likes of Vespa and Lambretta produced inexpensive scooters, continuing to this day. But another factory which also started by affixing a proprietary engine to a bicycle and calling it the Cucciolo, or Puppy, soon turned its attention to bigger and better things.

Pre-war, Ducati was a manufacturer of radio components. Post war and with the factory in ruins due to allied bombing, the workforce needed something to build to keep. the company afloat.

Seeing, like so many others, the need for cheap personal transport, the management and designers came up with the simple idea of attaching a 50cc single-cylinder engine to a bicycle and so the Ducati two-wheel story began.

It's a story of innovation, racing success, exotic sports bikes, era-defining designs and, into the 21st century, diversification into different classes of motorcycle, all of which continue the tradition of engineering excellence allied to Italian design flair.

To own a Ducati is to own a small piece of Italian soul and this is the story of how Ducati got that soul.