gWElDX!J
TT-Rt25L
'1
>d
u
o
n
o
o
o
~
o
o
o
o
c
o
c
o
c
~o
o
o
•
WHAT OF MOTO GUZZI?
Mofo Guzzi's fate stilllwlgs in the baIi1nc2 at the t:w:n of
a amtury in which Ita!y's oldest and lJIOSt histoc'ic extant
8
motorcycle brand won 46 Grand Prix races and eight
World Championships, and produced such legendary
designs as the 500cc V-eigttt GP racer, the ultra-lightweight horizontal-cylitld.e.r GP siIlgles wbo&e single <:oat
of dUll green paint denoted a fanatical attention to
~ving (two coats would have been too heavy,
and so too would gloss paint), and the ruged and reliable but still rapid I.e Mans shaft-driveV-twins.
Unfortttnarely, that same CE:Dtwy has also seen Mofo
Guzzi slump from being Baly's largest motorcycle manufacturer (producing up to 100,000 bikes aIU'lUAIly in the
sprawling Mandel)o factory beside Lake Como in the
1950s boom era) to less than 6000 now. Such a decline,
coupled with the marque's 1egendaJ:y heritage and loyal
{if shrinking} customer base, makes Mofo Guzzi ripe for a
takeover _. a fal:t several times recounted here over the
past few years, as a wide range of companies have sounded out such a step.
These have varied from venture capitalists outside the
motOl"CYcle industry to rival marques within, including
all four Japanese companies, Ducati, Piaggio, BMW,
Aprilia and even (in a reverse takeover that would have
been ironic even by rtalian standards) Bi.n;Iota. But the
company's Byzantine stnlcture, as well as the corporate
in-fighting among Guzzi's various shareholding factions,
8
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
70
laced. with delusions of grandeur about tbe finllt'cial
killing they hoped to obtain b.Y reJinqnishing onI:y part of
the tompalIy, always prednded IiZ1Y sale.
8ludened with a series of stockmarb.t sheDaniga:ns
aimed at fatterIing the compidly's pmfiIe as a taIget for
~ uPdermlnd by _ _ ~ disastrous batam:e sheet. high
.1Ilt _nove, IIIl4 a union-Ied
woikfmce seemingly ~Y to continue drawing
the healthy payme.nts
for Jaic:l-off employees
under ItalY. generCli\ll$ $Odal $!CtlriI:y propam thaD to
at::eept the CUtJlPiiY'S:oeed. to re1.ocatIe to • - - . . ~
Moto Guzzi CliNltiImes to sink lIm!!I'~, with total
debts now l'UQ'IPlll!Ii to !lOp $4&DIiUloa.
Laliest in the long line of """1.. 10 '8Cm<:h1re Mofo
Guzzi. is the pIlumed: ~'tiY Auslria'1I flourishing
off-road specialists tcnI, ~ It 0tIW ~ge the
dlances of a 9l10"E!llllhJl ~~ pod, 011I December 9, I
