Italian Moped Engines of the 1940s & 1950s
Ducati production began with the 48cc OHV Cucciolo engine.
Aldo Farinelli designed and built an auxiliary bicycle engine during WWII and this was put into production by SIATA at premises rebuilt on the site of a factory destroyed during the war at via Leonardo da Vinci, Turin. Named the Cucciolo, it was presented at the Salone di Torino in July 1945.
Ducati, at the time an established radio producer, acquired the rights from SIATA (who could not keep up with demand) and began production in March of 1946 and presented it at the Fiera Campionaria in Milan in September of that year. Shortly afterwards they released a much improved version, the T2.
It was a great success.
The T3, Ducati's own design, arrived on the market in 1948, followed by their first complete mopeds in 1949 using components built by the famed aircraft manufacturer Caproni. The T3 was followed by the Ducati 60.
In recent times an electric motorcycle named the Ducati Cucciolo has been produced.
Numerous firms built Cucciolo engines under licence or purchased engines for their own machines. These include:
See also: Mopeds
If you have a query or information about Ducati motorcycles please contact us
