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Ducat; V4 Apollo 1260 forced them to focus more closely on their export markets, particularly the United States, then hungry for European products. In Ducati's case, with production declining to around 6000 bikes a year by 1960 and the company only being kept afloat thanks to state subsidies forthcoming mainly thanks to Bologna's status as the bastion of Italy's powerful Communist party, this meant an ever.greater dependence on the firm's New Jerseybased U.S. importer. It was called the Berliner Motor Corporation, and by the early '60s, after its appointment in 1957, it was selling no less than 85 percent of Ducati's total production, according to the Italian firm's thensales director, Cosimo Calcagnile, This meant that brothers Joe and Mikfl Berliner effectively called the shots for the recession-hit Ducati. Elder brother Joe Berliner was convinced of the potential of the U.S. police market, especially since American anti-trust legislation required that police departments across the country at least consider alternative sources of supply to the prevailing Harley monopoly, even if in the wake of Indian's demise, this now meant evaluating foreign products. The Berliners were also importers for the German Zundapp marque, then primarily notable for a BMW-like 600cc fiat-tWin, the KS601, a shaft-drive tourer descended from its World War II Wehrmacht machine, which was also available in a police version. Berliner had the bright idea of selling a batch of these to cities across the U.S.A. at a nominal price of one dollar each, for evaluation as possible future police equipment. But this proved abortive when Zundapp terminated production of the KS601 in 1958 - a decision made all the more unfortunate by the fact that several police forces Berliner had sent Zundapps to had reported favorably on them and were keen to take matters further. However, they were prevented from doing so by a second major problem: official U.S. police department specifications were increasingly standardized across the country and naturally favored the overweight, unsophisticated, large capacity home-grown product that Harley had been building since its earliest days. Specifically, there was a requirement for any candidate's engine capacity to be at least 1200cc, as well as a minimum 60-inch (1525mm) wheelbase, and - worst of all - the use of 5.00 x 16-inch tires; no others were acceptable. Berliner was not easily daunted, and with Zundapp now a spent force, he contacted Ducati chief Dr. Giuseppe Montano to see if the firm was interested in producing a special machine for this significant market, 46 MAY 7, 2003' a U a I • even though the Italian company's largest-capacity model in 1959, when Berliner first approached them, was the 200cc Elite. After considering the design of the archaic 74-cubic-inch Harley that was then effectively standard issue to U.S. police departments, Montano and Taglioni readily agreed. They were certain they could produce a more efficient and much more modern design that Berliner could sell at a reasonable cost, even after payment of the quite steep U.S. import duty. Taglioni eagerly accepted the commission as a technical chalJenge - which was more than the board of Britain's AMC would do. The Norton, Matchless and AJS marques were also distributed by Berliner in the U.S.A. from 1960 on, and yet AMC would only consider building a parallel twin for the U.S. market (same as they did elsewhere), which effectively meant a maximum capacity of 800cc if vibration was to be kept within manageable levels. In other words, tell the customer what he ought to want, rather than what he's decided you can try to sell him - an attitude so typical of the British motorcycle industry's demise. Fortunately for Berliner, Ducati was much more flexible and obliging, though Montano encountered initial skepticism from the government bureaucrats in Rome who controlled the company's finances, which meant negotiations dragged on for a couple of years. Eventually a deal was finally struck in 1961, resulting in a joint venture whereby Berliner would underwrite the development costs of the new model. The Apollo was the n • _ s result - a name chosen by the Berliners to commemorate America's manned space flights, which had recently begun. In return for their financial aid, Berliner Motor Corp. would be allowed to dictate its specifications but would be expected to make a further contribution toward tooling costs if the prototype reached production. However, according to CalcagniIe, apart from meeting the standardized U.S. police regulations, the brothers' only stipulation was that the bike should have an engine bigger than anything in Harley's range, then topped by the 74 cubic inch/1215cc FL-series Duo Glide models. The remainder of the technical specification was left to Taglioni, who decided on a 90-degree V4 engine whose perfect primary balance meant no need for a counterbalancer to eliminate vibration, even with the 180-degree crank throws he opted for (so each pair of pistons would rise and fall together), and separate, differentially finned, air-cooled cylinders. This was a design similar to the 250cc V4 he'd drawn up back in 1948 as his I.Mech.E degree project at Bologna University, but with push rod ohv valvegear and a single gear-driven camshaft positioned between the cylinders, just as on the V8 car engines which U.S. police mechanics could work on in their sleep (Harleys, too!). The two valves per cylinder were operated via push rods and rockers with screw-type adjusters, while the horizontally split wet-sump engine featured a single crank running in a central support, with each pair of conrods sharing a single-caged roUer- Designed by legendary Ducati engineer Fabio Taglioni, the Apollo V4 was designed to be rugged and serviceable. Instead of desmo valve actuation, the Apollo'S ovemead valves were pushrod acutated something thBt American mechanics were far more familiar with. bearing big end. Ignition came via a 12-volt battery under the seat, with four sets of contact breakers, two running off each end of the camshaft, and four coils feeding the 14mm sparkplugs, one per cylinder. Taglioni had considered watercooling the engine but rejected this on the grounds of complication and bulk, and he likewise politely tumed down Joe Berliner's suggestion to incorporate shaft drive, which he mistrusted, in favor of a duplex chain final drive (same as later adopted on the Benelli 900 Sei). However, he did make space in the housing containing the Apollo's five-speed gearbox and gear primary drive to accept a Sachs variable-speed automatic transmission at a later date, though it would be Moto Guzzi who would finally bring this to the marketplace a decade later in 1975, in its VI 000 I-Convert. With the front cylinders of the mighty 1256cc engine lifted 10 degrees from horizontal to improve cooling to the rear pair, and measuring an even by today's standards ultrashort-stroke 84.5 x 56 mm, the Apollo's V4 motor was by some way the most oversquare design Taglioni had ever produced for Ducati. This was installed as a stressed member in a beefy-looking open-cradle duplex chassis with a central box-section downtube between the front two