The story behind Ferrari's only motorcycle: a hometown for 'Il Commendatore'

Ferrari is without doubt one of the most iconic corporations within the automotive world.

The story behind Ferrari's only motorcycle: a hometown for 'Il Commendatore'

Ferrari is without doubt one of the most iconic corporations within the automotive world. Nonetheless, many are unaware that, on one event, the agency was seduced by the universe of two wheels and agreed to put its brand on a motorcycle, the one one in every of all time to formally show the "Prancing Horse".

The historical past of this motorbike goes again to the 90s, when the British David Kay, a well-liked engineer and designer of the MV Augusta, insisted on paying homage to the legendary Enzo Ferrari. Two years after the loss of life of "IlCommendatore", Kay contacted Piero Ferrari and proposed creating a bike in homage to his father.

In a historic determination, Piero expressed in a letter, on Might 23, 1990, his authorization to put the "Prancing Horse" on the physique of that future motorbike, of which just one unit could be produced. As well as, he took benefit of the letter to encourage Kay in her bold venture and need her luck.

That was the start line in order that, in 1995, the primary and solely motorbike that has ever been produced with the Ferrari brand was born. In between, greater than 4 years and three,000 hours of painstaking work devoted to the handcrafted building of an unique piece of engineering.

After receiving shocking approval from Piero Ferrari, Kay acquired all the way down to enterprise. He needed to begin from scratch, so the very first thing he did was fastidiously analyze the previous of the distinguished Italian agency and attempt to guess the place the way forward for the model would go. What would a bike made by Ferrari in Maranello have been like?

A query with out a solution that, however, the designer tried to resolve. Kay imagined what that racing or endurance bike would have been like if "Il Commendatore" continued to run the Bolognese firm. Sporty, daring and, clearly, quick. She additionally helped him uncover that Enzo had raced a Scott two-stroke as a teen.

In 1995, he offered his extraordinary motorbike, the Ferrari 900, outfitted with cutting-edge components of its time. The sunshine “rosso” coloured aluminum physique is mixed with a Reynolds 531 tubular chassis. On the entrance it mounts a Forcelle Italia inverted fork, while on the rear it incorporates WPS double shock absorbers. All this, accompanied by spectacular 17-inch Astralite wheels and Brembo disc brakes on each wheels.

Its design is paying homage to previous competitors bikes, with an enormous windshield. On the entrance it exhibits off an iconic spherical double headlight of its time. As well as, the saddle has an elongated form that provides it a retro look, identical to the gas tank. Even the facet gills on its fairing are a transparent nod to the Testarossa.

As for the engine, Kay handcrafted a 900 cc four-cylinder transverse block in his workshop, related to a five-speed gearbox. The 105 horsepower at 8,800 rpm permits the 172 kg machine to achieve a high velocity of 265 km/h. It could additionally go from 0 to 100 km/h in three seconds.

In 2008, David Kay determined that the time was proper for his jewel to discover a new proprietor, so he determined to public sale it off on the famend Bonhams home. The worth, 300,000 euros, didn't discover a purchaser. Nonetheless, in 2012 it was profitable and it ended up being offered for a determine near 100.00 euros.

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