The Cucciolo was the first Ducati motorcycle. Ducati started as an electronics company founded in the 1920's. During World War II a designer named Aldo Farinelli developed the prototype of an auxiliary motor to be mounted on a bicycle. Farinelli’s design had a number of major advantages over the competition, it was a four stroke at at time when most small engines were two strokes and had a unit construction gearbox with two speeds. Ducati partnered with another Italian firm, SIATA, to produce a complete motorized vehicle with Farinelli's engine, the Cucciolo, or “Puppy”. It was the first new vehicle introduced after World War II in the world! By 1946, the rights to Cucciolo production had become exclusively Ducati’s. It was produced till 1958. In the UK, Britax manufactured a version of the Cucciolo called the Monarch with the Ducati engine and with frame and front forks manufactured by Royal Enfield. In unmistakable Ducati form, the machines, in the fully faired "Hurricane" trim were immediately raced,
The forks that Royal Enfield manufactured for the Hurricane were essentially the same as those of the Flying Flea. Britax apparently still exists in the UK. It now makes child safety seats for automobiles!
Proving that Man will race anything! A great item, thank you.
ReplyDeleteIndeed! Thanks, David!
ReplyDeleteQuite possibly one of the most misleading pieces on Cucciolo's I have come across. I really don't know where to begin. The Hurricane, of which only about 20 were made, needed it's own class to be created and was never 'sucessful'; only against other Hurricanes. It wasn't a racing machine in any way, just looked like one. It was based on the Britax 'Scooterette', which was nothing like the Britax cycle and nobody really knows what forks it had. There are no refrences at all to "Monarch" as a name. Aldo worked for Siata as its Marketing Manager and Ducati had nothing whatsoever to do with the design of the Cucciolo. It was Aldo Lioni who designed the first Engine 1944prototypes and their production manifestations, The T1-a 45', 46', the T1-b and the T2-SC "Cansa". They didn't "partner"; they were allocated as a subcontractor along with Cansa. It was not the "First new vehicle in the world" either. If you are going to write something, it needs to be fully researched. Sorry, but in the intrests of accuracy, there you go. Been collecting Cucciolo's for 38-years and published three books on them as well as moderating one of the Facebook pages. Much can be written in Britax, Royal Enfield and the Hurricane, just not like this.
ReplyDeleteGreat take! Sorry it took so long to publish, it got lost among the comments! Thanks!
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