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Moto Guzzi is one of the most evocative names in motorcycling. For eighty years the company has produced innovative, practical, stylish and exciting machines that have caught the imagination and won races all over the world. Along with Ducati, Moto Guzzi represents the best in the Italian motorcycling, tradition of imaginative engineering and high performance. David Styles's pictorial history gives a fascinating and authoritative account of the company and its extraordinary motorcycles.

The author has brought together a rare collection of photographs to tell the remarkable story of Moto Guzzi from its tentative beginnings at Mandello del Lario on Lake Como just after the First World War. The first machines, which borrowed features from advanced aero-engines, were immediately successful in competition in the 1920s, and quickly established a reputation to match that of the other leading manufacturers of the day. But the prestige of a win at the Isle of Man TT eluded the company until the great Stanley Woods made their name by winning the 1935 Senior TT on a Moto Guzzi V-twin.

The author goes on to describe in detail the road-going Moto Guzzis derived from these fine racing machines. He recalls the design evolution of the popular models of the 1930s, the military motorcycles produced in the Second World War, and the re-emergence of the company as a force in European motorcycling in the late 1940s and 1950s. While continuing success in international competition reinforced Moto Guzzi's prewar reputation, the knowhow gained from racing led to a new series of outstanding road bikes - the Falcone, in particular, and the V7, which has been the mainstay of the range for the last thirty years.

David Styles's thoroughly researched, fully illustrated account of the marque brings the story right up to date by covering the latest generation of Moto Guzzis which are the most sophisticated products of Italy's oldest surviving motorcycle maker.

DAVID G. STYLES is a professional writer who specializes in industrial and engineering subjects. He is the editor of The Vintage Motor Cycle Club Journal and the author of books on Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin & Lagonda, Datsun, MG, Porsche and Riley.

First published in 2000 by Sutton Publishing Ltd.

Author: David G. Styles

ISBN: 0-7509-2041-6

RRP: £14.99