Featured In the October 2024 Issue of Roadracing World:
Everyone loves a David versus Goliath story or even simplicity beating complexity. Back in the 1930s and 1940s Moto Guzzi developed both 250cc and 500cc single-cylinder machines. The 250cc Single was so successful, it won the 250cc World Championship from 1949 through 1952! After 1952, competition pushed Moto Guzzi down the championship results table.
In 1953 the 250’s bore and stroke were stretched from 68mm x 68mm to 72mm x 80mm as a SOHC 320cc racebike to compete in the 350cc World Championships. Later that year the engine became a DOHC with bore and stroke of 75mm x 79mm, for 348cc. This configuration proved very successful with Fergus Anderson winning the 1953 350cc World Championship, with Enrico Lorenzetti finishing second on a similar machine. Continual development by a smart engineer named Giulio Carcano resulted in Moto Guzzi Singles winning the 350cc World Championship from 1953 thru 1957! So, what made this rather antique-looking machine so successful?
“Historic Racebike Illustrations: 1957 Moto Guzzi 350,” by Mick Ofield
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