Happenings in M o t o r cy cli ng
For the Little []uc:ati Fan
The Ducati Cucciolo st uffed animal is the resu lt of
collaborat ion between Ducati and Accademia that
ce lebrate s the first Ducati sport motorcycle: the
"Cucciolo" of the 1940s and I950s.
It all started w ith a litt le puppy. In 1926, the
Ducat i brothers founded an app liance bus iness in a
suburb of Bologna. Their motorcycle breakthrough
came in 1946. The Cucciolo, or "Puppy," was a 48cc
four-stroke engine bolted to a bicycle frame . But the
Italians loved it and more than a quarter of a million
were sold over the next decade. These early scooters were fast, reliable and efficient. They laid the
groundwork for a motorcycle revolution that led to
high-performance sportbikes
such as the 916 and 999 , and
cult motorcycles like the Ducati
Monster and Multistrada.
Today, Ducati celebrates th e
birth of the Cucc iolo with a
range of children's stuffed animals manufactured by Accademia. Des igned to closely resemble the original puppy that
appea red in Ducati advertising
for th e Cucciolo, t he animals are
made of plush materials wit h
IOO-percent po lyeste r stuffing.
Pupp ies come w ith Ducati ban danas or T-shirts and logo caps
w ith the Ducati Corse symbol and race graphics. The Pupp ies are available in four sizes: 6-inch, 8-inch, I 1.8 1-inch and 23.62-inch. In
addit ion, there is a key chain vers ion.
Additionally, in April of 2005 , a range of vintage Pupp ies will be launched , dressed in the historic "Meccanica" logo and graphics that celebrate
Ducati's her itage, which dates back to the found ing of the company in Bologna in 1926.
While test ing at the
Sep ang Circuit in
Malaysia at the e nd
of November, Cycle
News "Rider of the
Year" Valentino Rossi
showed off the latest
paint job on his AGV
helmet. He also took
time out of his testing schedule to sign
autographs for the
Yamaha staff that
was in attendance .
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