Ducati

Ducati began as a technology company, not a motorcycle marque. On 4 July 1926, brothers Adriano, Bruno and Marcello Cavalieri Ducati established Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna. Adriano’s short-wave radio work preceded the company’s first product, the Manens capacitor.^[1,2,3]

The company’s first premises were in central Bologna; it later moved to the family villa on Viale Guidotti. Construction of the Borgo Panigale factory began in 1935. Allied bombing damaged the plant in October 1944, and its postwar reconstruction became the setting for Ducati’s move into motor vehicles.^[3,4]

In 1946, Ducati acquired from Turin-based SIATA the Cucciolo project and construction licence. The auxiliary engine could be fitted to a bicycle, and its production marked Ducati’s entry into motor vehicles. The Ducati 60 followed as the company’s first complete motorcycle.^[1,2,5,6]