Letter From Europe
LETTER FROM Europe
ROUNDUP
Cagiva buys Moto Morini
News leaking out of Italy indicates that the owners of Cagiva, the brothers Castiglioni, are about to give themselves a special present for 1987. Gianfranco and Claudio Castiglioni, who in addition to their own Cagiva concern have recently bought Husqvarna and, before that, Ducati, are now after the Moto Morini company.
Morini is one of Italy’s old-established motorcycle firms, founded in 1937 by Alfonso Morini. The company has carved a small but loyal market
Barigauit’s Black Magic
Five years ago, ACS Siccardi, one of the leading automotive component manufacturers in France, attempted to build a lOOOcc, liquidcooled, 12-valve, threecylinder superbike for the road. The Siccardi “Mille” was stillborn due to a shortage of money; but Patrick Barigault, one of the men who worked on the project, has continued on undaunted with bikes of his own design.
Using versions of the Rotax Single, Berigault has built a series of highquality off-road competition bikes for longdistance rallies. Now, the Barigo marque has moved into the increasingly popular Superbikers class, of customers for its pushrod-operated, Heronheaded, 72-degree VTwin four-stroke range first introduced for sale in 1973. But faced with the tooling costs entailed in putting a newly designed, liquid-cooled engine into production, those in charge of the company have decided that the time is ripe to sell. For all sorts of reasons, commercial, geographical and personal, Cagiva and the with a street-legal version for sale to those with exotic and expensive tastes. For about $6000, buyers can get the Tanangra MX, a 600cc, single-cylinder, Castiglionis appear certain to be that purchaser.
Cagiva’s purchase will also allow continued development and production of the new Morini engine, which will slot right into the group’s planned model range for the 1990s very neatly.
The liquid-cooled, VTwin Ducati eight-valve engine currently under development is intended only to be built in 750cc capacity or greater, whereas a new Morini of similar specifications is designed to be built in sizes from 250 to 500cc, thus perfectly complementing the Ducati lineup.
The probable deal with Cagiva looks likely to mean not only the salvation of the Morini marque but also the continued development of the new engine in such a way as to retain the company’s reputation for individuality. As was the case with Ducati, the Castiglionis look to assure the future of another of the great names in Italian motorcycling history. 275-pound Superbike with a designer paint scheme. The street-legal version should be ready by early summer.
—Alan Catheart
