This year is a major milestone for Ducati. The legendary Italian marque not only celebrates the 100th anniversary of its foundation in 2026, a flurry of new and commemorative machines are set to be unveiled throughout the year with the year’s highlight being a special centenary-themed World Ducati Week in early July.
But how much do you really know about Ducati? Did you realise, for example, that for the first 20 years of its existence Ducati had nothing to do with motorbikes? Or that its first signature V-twins didn’t arrive until the 1970s? Or even that, technically-speaking (having been bought by the Volkswagen Group in 2012, via its Audi and Lamborghini subsidiaries) you could now argue that Ducati’s no longer ‘Italian’ at all.
Here we give a brief history of Ducati, with hopefully a few surprises along the way…
As already mentioned, Ducati originally had nothing to do with motorcycles at all. Instead, on July 4, 1926, Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons, Adriano, Marcello, and Bruno, founded the Società Scientifica Radiobrevetti Ducati, (SSR Ducati) in Bologna to make electrical components, specifically capacitors, condensers and vacuum tubes for radios. Credible success over the next decade led to the building of a bespoke, new factory in the Borgo Panigale area of the city. However, due to its significance to the Italian war effort, it became a repeated target for Allied bombing and was finally destroyed by American bombing.
The post-war rebuild and demand for cheap, utility vehicles led, as with many other companies such as Piaggio and Honda, to Ducati’s first motorcycle-related product, a 48cc single-cylinder auxiliary engine designed to be mounted in a bicycle.
This first engine was called the ‘Cucciolo’ (Italian for ‘puppy’, in reference to its distinctive yapping exhaust sound) first went on sale in 1946 and, soon after, Turin firm SIATA (Societa Italiana per Applicazioni Tecniche Auto-Aviatorie) reached an agreement with Ducati to offer complete motorized-bicycles for sale.
In 1950, after over 200,000 Cucciolos had been sold, Ducati began to offer its own Cucciolo-based motorcycle. And the success of these and other lightweight machines, particularly with new 65cc machines from 1952, led to the splitting of the company in 1954 into two separate entities, Ducati Meccanica SpA and Ducati Elettronica.
In 1956, designer Fabio Taglioni ushered in the era of Ducati's ‘signature’ desmodromic valve system and, by the early 1960s, Ducati was renowned for having the world’s fastest 250, the single cylinder, four-stroke, bevel drive Mach 1.
By the mid-1960s, however, although Ducati’s lightweights and singles were revered, the emerging Japanese marques were helping push market demand towards larger, multi-cylinder machines – particularly in the US.
At the behest of its US importer, Ducati first experimented with a Harley-rivalling 1200cc V4, the Apollo, which never went into production. Then, following his new ‘Desmo’ singles, in 250, 350 and 450cc forms, Taglioni designed Ducati’s first ‘L-twin’ in 1970. It was essentially two Desmo singles set at 90 degrees on a common crankcase and came as a response to the new breed of 750cc superbikes from other manufacturers.
Around this time Ducati decided to re-enter motorcycle sport. A 500cc Desmo V-twin Grand Prix racer was developed, with limited success. The first V-twin roadster, the bevel drive 750GT was launched in 1971 then, in 1972, the first Imola 200 race (effectively a ‘European Daytona 200’ for production-based 750s) was announced. Ducati entered with eight specially-prepared bikes which were effectively hybrids of the 500 and GT, for riders including a late addition addition in the form of Paul Smart. The Brit won and, with the road 750 Sport launched later in 1972 and a commemorative replica, the 750 Supersport, in 1973, the stature of the Ducati V-twin superbike was assured.
Although ever larger and more sophisticated Japanese superbikes dominated the 1970s mass-market, Ducati’s allure continued. Its superbikes grew to 860 then 900cc and was given a further fillip by Mike Hailwood’s victory on a specially-prepared 900 racer against the might on Honda in the 1978 Production TT. But by the early 1980s, despite the introduction of Taglioni’s modernized belt-drive Pantah 500, Ducati was in financial trouble.
Ducati had begun supplying Pantah engines to emerging Italian manufacturer Cagiva in 1983 then, in 1985, Cagiva took over Ducati in its entirety, leading to a renaissance based on sports and race V-twins. The Pantah-based 750 F1 brought Daytona success, before a new liquid-cooled, four-valve Desmo by Massimo Bordi powered the 851 then 888 which brought three crowns in the new Superbike World Championship. A new and relatively affordable ‘bitsa’ sports roadster, the M900 Monster, which combined components of the 750 and 900SS and 851, proved a big hit from 1993, then, in 1994 came arguably Ducati’s most significant bike of all – the 916.
Gorgeously styled by Massimo Tamburini, the 916 was essentially an updated, improved 888 and proved a world superbike sensation, winning first time out in 1994 with Brit Carl Fogarty. The 916 and its 996 and 998 derivatives claimed five more crowns, three for ‘Foggy’ and one apiece for Australian Troys Corser and Bayliss. Add in numerous race wins and national superbike titles, including six in British superbikes, and the 916 was the most successful superbike racer of all time.
Ducati’s legend as world V-twin superbike kings was assured. Cagiva cashed in on its success by selling to Texas Pacific Group in 1996. Further expansion and successful models such as the Multistrada and Diavel were added to its Monster and Superbike portfolio. Ducati re-entered MotoGP in 2003 winning its first race the same year and its first championship with Casey Stoner in 2007 Ducati was now unarguably motorcycle (not just V-twin) performance kings, renown as the most sophisticated, potent and capable two-wheelers of all.
Following Audi’s takeover in 2012 that stature has grown further still. Ducati’s superbikes may now (since 2019) be V4s and its Monsters now liquid-cooled, but its bikes are also among the most desirable and sophisticated on the planet. And while those bikes are all now more premium-priced, Ducati’s production numbers are the biggest they have ever been, too. Not bad for a motorcycle marque that began by building mere handfuls of auxiliary 50cc engines. Happy centenary, Ducati, you deserve it!
Words: Phil West
Pictures: Ducati Archive
