Moto Guzzi was founded in 1921 by Carlo Guzzi and the Parodi family. Racing, engineering experimentation and production remained closely linked at Mandello del Lario. In the late 1960s the transverse V-twin appeared and became one of motorcycling’s most recognisable engine layouts, supporting sporting Le Mans models, California tourers and today’s V7 and V85 families.
Motorcycles / Manufacturers / Moto Guzzi
Motor Museum · Motorcycles · Since 1921
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi has built motorcycles at Mandello del Lario since 1921, moving from horizontal singles to the transverse V-twin that became its most recognisable mechanical signature.
1921motorcycle era begins
Italyorigin
3featured bikes
6catalogue bikes
Origins
Carlo Guzzi, Giorgio Parodi and Angelo Parodi
Read the manufacturer through the machines that changed its engineering, racing, design, market or cultural meaning.
Featured bikes
Three turning points.
The featured layer picks the motorcycles that most clearly changed this manufacturer’s technology, market or identity.
Normale
1921 · classic
Normale
The first chapter of continuous motorcycle production at Mandello del Lario.
Falcone
1950 · classic
Falcone
A classic expression of the pre-V-twin Moto Guzzi engineering tradition.
V7
1967 · roadster
V7
The architecture that transformed Moto Guzzi’s visual and engineering identity.
Museum catalogue
Bikes through time.
Each bike is treated like a museum object: what it was, why it mattered and where it sits in the manufacturer’s wider story.
1920s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1971–2020 · touring
California
The California developed from Moto Guzzi’s large police/touring motorcycles into a long-running cruiser and touring family.
Why it matters: A rare European interpretation of the American long-distance cruiser, sustained across several decades.
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California
1976–1984 · sports
850 Le Mans
The Le Mans turned the Guzzi V-twin into a low, sporting café-racer-style motorcycle with clip-ons and a small nose fairing.
Why it matters: One of the defining European sporting motorcycles of the 1970s and a high point of the classic Guzzi V-twin.
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850 Le Mans