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FEATURE I MOTO GUZZI WORLD DAYS 2026
But the museum does some-
thing particularly clever that
makes it more than a static col-
lection of old motorcycles. From
the exhibition areas, visitors can
look directly into the modern pro-
duction facility and watch new
Moto Guzzis being assembled.
That juxtaposition—old motor-
cycles on one side of the glass
and brand-new motorcycles
being built on the other—is prob-
ably the best representation of
where Moto Guzzi finds itself
after 105 years.
BEHOLD THE V
Among the many treasures in
the museum, one machine inevi-
tably attracts a disproportionate
amount of attention:
the extraordinary 500cc Moto
Guzzi V8 Grand Prix motorcycle.
Known as the Otto Cilindri, the
V8 was one of the most auda-
cious racing motorcycles ever
conceived. Introduced in 1955,
it used a 498cc water-cooled
V8 with double overhead cam-
shafts, eight carburetors and a
remarkably compact design. Pe-
riod specifications put output at
approximately 80 horsepower at
around 12,500 rpm. Depending
on gearing, the machine was ca-
pable of approximately 170 mph
in the hands of Fergus Ander-
son, Stanley Woods, Dickie Dale,
Ken Kavanagh, Keith Campbell,
Giuseppe Colnago, Bill Lomas
and Alano Montanari—illustrious
names, indeed.
The V8 was the product of
Giulio Carcano and Moto Guzzi's
extraordinarily inventive racing
department. It was technologi-
cally magnificent and notori-
ously complicated. Crankshaft
failures, overheating and other
mechanical problems ultimately
prevented it from becoming the
dominant Grand Prix weapon its
performance suggested it could
be. The machine was withdrawn
from competition as Moto Guzzi
departed Grand Prix racing at
the end of 1957, along with
Gilera and FB Mondial, leaving
only MV Agusta to represent
Italy on the world stage in the
500cc class.
Standing among the other
historic machines in the new
