Lino Tonti

What is motorcycling about? Getting through traffic on the way to work? Being able to park any where? An efficient and ecologically sound method of transportation?...sure…yes, yes, but what about FUN? With a frigging capital F!!!

Thankfully, at Moto Guzzi there was always a need for speed…and good old fashioned enjoyment, it would seem…As the 50s became the 60s people were hopeful that the new decade would steer them away from austerity, rationing, etc, and there was widespread optimism about a surge in popular culture, expression, freedom…except at Moto Guzzi.

First, financial difficulties threatened its very existence, then the retirement of Giulio Cesare Carcano heralded the end of the most brilliant conceptual and practical design brain in the business and, possibly, one of the most famous manufacturers in motorcycling history.

Lino Tonti’s job interview must have been quite something…”well, Lino…we have no money, no new models, no new ideas… but apart from that, all is ok…so, please provide us with a legendary sports bike that’ll be an icon for the next forty years. You’ll find some bits and pieces over there, buona fortuna, ci vediamo”.

Moto Guzzi V7 Sport

Tonti joined in ’67 and immediately set about messing with the Guzzi chassis to ensure it kept pace with the development of the V twin lump, which he eventually enlarged to 844cc. This led to his design masterpiece which made such an impact that it marked the rebirth of the factory.

He was totally devoted to building the perfect frame onto which he would bolt his dream…so much so that he came off and broke his leg at one point…how many current designers test their own work eh?

In November 1971 it was unveiled at the Milan show…lean, low, racy…in a gobsmacking metallic lime green finish for the fabulously sculpted tank…the public must have cacked themselves…the bike was so popular, it was all but snapped up by the Itaslian market and hardly any made it to Blighty where people were happily pottering on their black Enfields and their Bellstaffs. In the old country however, Guzzi produced a high performance version of the V7 Sport with race tuned engine, huge Dell’Ortos and a fairing, they called it the Le Mans…any of this aringin a bell?

Moto Guzzi 750s and S3

The successful V7 Sport was binned in ’74 and replaced by the 750S. This was clearly based on the V7 but was an engineering as well as a cosmetic progression…left foot gears, Brembo brakes, but it kept its low, lean, racy look…and when, on test, it spanked a Ducati Desmo a Beemer R90, and a Rickman Triumph! It demonstrated there was a sting in the tail too!

This was an inordinately sexy bike…a buyer could choose any colour, as long as it was black…although there was a choice of lime green, orange, or red diagonal stripes along the tank and panels.

The 750S3 came in ’75 and was a cross between the 850T3 and the 750S…when it made its debut in Britain in May 1975 it was the most expensive imported bike at £1749. It screamed performance from every angle…the same aggressive, long, low looks from the earlier models remained, and it was a wise choice from the Guzzi designers to keep these cues for its replacement…the iconic 850 Le Mans.

My partner in crime, Gary, will tell you more about the Le Mans as he completes his History of Moto Guzzi, but I am more interested in the evolution of the model, and in particular where we find it today.

The Great Le Mans problem…


Guzzi have again and again proved themselves masters of designing bikes that screamed “performance” at you and isn’t it funny that this has survived to today? Take the current bearer of the Le Mans name.

It comes descended from the curvy, pretty, and lime green V11 Sport we first saw some years ago…ring a ding ding a bell? And so it should as it’s essentially the same bike with a few modifications, some trick bits and a fairing. I’ve not had a go on a new Le Mans (any takers out there?) but I have ridden a V11 Sport…great fun! But is it inspirational?



850 Le Mans

You see…when the 850 Le Mans hit the streets in 1976 it growled “HERE I F****** AM!!!” and in its red colour scheme with the dayglo orange panel in the bikini fairing any 1970s motorist bimbling along in their pants Ford Anglia or Hillman Imp, seeing its profile in the rear view would have received one message only “GET OUT OF MY F****** WAY!!!”

…can you imagine how George and Doris would have felt on hearing the bark of the matt black pipes as it roared past? About the same as a nun at a Motorhead gig I reckon! Does the current Le Mans threaten to murder present day Guy and Candida in their shitty Vectra before they arrive at the safety of their semi in Sidcup? …I don’t think so…but I know one who does…

MG-1 Corsa…the true Le Mans?

You see… I think Guzzi have missed a trick. The only genuinely worthy machine capable of carrying the Le Mans name with equal style, aggression, and panache, and exclusivity in my opinion, is the MG-1 Corsa…with its razor sharp styling, the huge engine…this bike looks brutal standing still…or even in a photo.

To all the Justins and Lees on their monotonously similar Jap bikes…the only four the “motorcycling” press ever write about, it quietly and malevolently whispers…”F**K YOU!” like some kind of Clint Eastwood character sizing up the next bunch of hombres to be gunned down.

You would know the MG-1 was coming ages before you saw it and when it arrived… you’d get out of the fucking way too.
I would like Moto Guzzi to keep the various V11 formats…they are lovely machines…but the MG-1 should be the Le Mans for the start of the 21st Century. I think Tonti would approve…what about you?

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