Mondial

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Mondial Logo

Mondial was an Italian motorcycle manufacturer known for its Grand Prix motorcycle racing successes during the 1950s. The firm produced some of the most advanced and successful Grand Prix road racers of its time, winning 5 World Championships. After the 1957 Grand Prix season, the major Italian motorcycle manufacturers including Gilera, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta and Mondial announced that they would pull out of Grand Prix competition citing increasing costs and diminishing sales (MV Agusta would later reconsider and continued racing). Mondial had readied a bike with desmodromic valve actuation (before Ducati) but the firm would see its end before it could produce it.

[edit] Honda

In 1957, Soichiro Honda approached Italian nobleman Count Boselli for purchase of a Mondial racebike, of which the firm had just won the 125cc and 250cc world titles. Honda would use this bike as the standard to which he would need to live up and be able to compete on a world-scale.

An original Mondial 125cc racebike is the first bike on display when entering Honda’s Motegi Collection Hall.

[edit] Revival

The rights to Mondial was purchased by newspress tycoon Roberto Ziletti in 1999 from the Boselli family who had founded Mondial before World War II. Ziletti was an avid motorcyclist in his youth, and his dream was to own a prestigious motorcycle company.

In 2000 Ziletti asked Honda to supply engines for the new Mondial (the Piega) from their race-winning RC51 superbikes. The deal went through, as payback to Mondial, who had supplied Soichiro Honda with his first racebike. This represents the first time Honda has ever allowed a firm to use its engines for their production vehicles.

[edit] The end

Mondial was having business trouble, of which Ziletti could not resolve because he had other matters to tend to. Mondial would then be held by a Monza bankruptcy court. The courts arranged to sell Mondial to Andrew Wright of American firm Superbike Racing, who attempted to continue the marque. Unfortunately on October 24th, 2004, a robbery had taken place, apparently by someone who was familiar with the Mondial facilities. The Italian courts announced publicly that Superbike Racing had withdrawn its offer. Not only did Superbike Racing not withdraw their offer, but they hadn't been notified of or consented to this announcement.^{[citation needed]}

The Monza courts sold Mondial Moto SPA to asset strippers on July 27th, 2005, and without reason, have confiscated the cash bid for Mondial by Superbike Racing.^{[citation needed]}

Major and Notable Italian motorcycle marques