A Brief History of the Marque
Franco Ringhini of Milan moved from Guazzoni to Morbidelli in the late '60s and was responsible for the first Morbidelli 50 & 125cc GP bikes.
At Morbidelli he became a test rider and team mate of future World Champion Eugenio Lazzarini, and was later the head of their competition department which under his guidance won the 50cc and 125cc World Championships. Ringhini also designed a 350cc square four, a project of which Morbidelli's management disapproved, a factor which lead to his resignation towards the end of 1973.
Remaining in Pesaro, he established his own engineering company which produced a number of 50cc racers and further developed the square four to the point where it gained a 4th place in its GP debut.
In 1980 he introduced a 250cc twin with disc valves which was third fastest in practice at it's Mugello debut, but crashed during the race.
Sources: Phil Aynsley, handh.co.uk, elsberg-tuning.dk
