9 production models

60 discontinued models

history

The Ducati Company was founded in 1926 by the three Ducati brothers, Bruno, Adriano and Marcello. At first, the company had nothing to do with motorcycles, but managed electrical components. Then the Italian government took over the company during the Second World War and pushed Ducati into making motorcycles. The first motorized attempt on behalf of Ducati was the clip-on 50cc bicycle engine produced in 1946. In the 1950, the Italian company developed its first vehicle, the 1952 Cruiser 175cc, a scooter which had electric starter and automatic transmission. One year later (1953), Ducati came up with a 98cc version of this vehicle and they soon increased its capacity to 125cc. In 1954, engineer Fabio Tagnoli joined the company, thing which would prove to be extremely good for the company as they came up with several spectacular models by the end of 1956. We are talking about the four stroke Tourist 174 and Special and Sport models which could reach up to 135 km/h, a considerable performance for that time. All these models were presented to the public in 1957 at the Milan Salon. Tagnoli worked for three years on a desmodronic system, from 1955 to 1958, system which was adopted on the 250cc bike ordered by a famous English racer Mike Hailwooda, in 1960. Also in 1958, Ducati came up with the 200cc bike called Elite. The first Ducati model which was able to go over 150 km/h came in 1964 and was called Mach 250. They increased the power of their production series bikes in 1968 when they came up with the 450 Mark 3D, series bike which could go over 170 km/h and was the first motorcycle that you could buy which had desmodronic distribution. After registering a large success with the 450 desmodronic bike, Ducati came up with a 750 twin cylinder desmodronic motorcycle and introduced at the Imola 200 Miles race. There were bikes in the race, driven by Bruno Spaggiari and Paul Smart who managed to win the first and the second place. Such a win could not go uncelebrated and unexploited and Ducati developed the 750 Supersport in this regard, bike which was launched in 1972. Mike Hailwooda got once again on a Ducati bike in 1978 and managed to win the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. He drove a Supersport model elevated to 900cc, bike which was later on turned into a limited edition production called 900 SS Mike Hailwooda Replica. 1983 came and Ducati became part of the Cagiva Group as it was purchased by Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni. This proved to be a good move for Ducati, as the company got more involved into motosports and also released some new models. In 1993 came the Monster model and in 1994 the 916 model which received the title “Motorcycle of the Year” from a very prestigious bike magazine. Another shift in management came in 1996 when the Italian company was taken over by Texas Pacific Group, an investment company from America. The new management team pulled off some interesting stunts and managed to make the Monster Dark the best selling motorcycle in Italy in 1998 and 1999. In March of 1999, Ducati Motor Holding was one of few automotive companies to listed on the stock market, the Milan Stock Exchanges to be exact. Ducati was the first company to sell a motorcycle exclusively over the Internet and this was the case of the MH900e model, which was delivered to 2,000 Ducati enthusiasts just week in the new millennium. In 2001, a tragic moment for Ducati took place, namely the death of one of its founders, Bruno Cavalieri Ducati.

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