1974 Ducati 750 SS -The Green Frame Barn
This site is dedicated to the history and preservation of these bikes and features two unique examples from our collection.
History is Made
The Factory Ducati Team Arrives at Imola
The Ducati factory team is shown here arriving at the Imola race track in 1972 with a custom, glass-sided transport showcasing their latest 748cc, L-twin, desmodromic valve-driven race bikes. That bold visual statement and the equally wild metal flake paint scheme on the bikes would soon be backed up by a superlative performance on the track.
Inaugural Race - The 1972 200 Miglia di Imola
Six of the Ducati factory 750 race bikes can be seen here waiting in the pits just before the start of the race. With a reported 84hp at 9,000 rpm and a top speed of over 130mph, the latest bikes from Ducati outshined the competition with their speed, consistency and reliability. If you applied the current value of these bikes, this photograph may well represent the most valuable assembly of race bikes in history.
The Legend of Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari
Paul Smart (16) and Bruno Spaggiari (9) would jockey for position and take turns leading for almost the entire race, and they would go on to place 1st and 2nd for Ducati in the inaugural 1972 Imola. That important 1-2 victory literally launched Ducati onto the big-bore world stage and set them up for both financial stability and sustained competitiveness on the track.
Imola 1973 - Saarinen and Spaggiari
The Ducati Factory Team and Bruno Spaggiari (84) took a smaller contingent of three further developed, short stroke 750's to Imola in 1973 for another shot at winning the 200 Miglia. Those bikes can be viewed as the first purpose-built Ducati big bore, twin race bikes as, unlike the 1972 Imola bikes, they shared almost nothing with the street versions.
While Taglioni and the fans hoped for another dominant Ducati showing, Jarno Saarinen (5) on the Yamaha would sit atop the podium that day, with Ducati and Spaggiari placing second.
Photo credit: F-M. Dumas
The Ducatisti Demand a Street Version
The demand for a street version of the Imola race bikes was insatiable and, after offering a glimpse of the future with a few pre-production 1973 prototypes, construction of the limited edition street version began in Ducati's race shop in early 1974. They were built in one batch of 401 bikes (that size allowed for the homologation of two years of factory racing) and they were sent around the world to Ducati’s dealer network. The United States received the largest allocation of bikes at 88 examples.
Released - Least Hyped Motorcyle in History
Given the tiny size of the 1974 production run, the lengthy assembly time, the extremely high cost of production, and the exorbitant sticker price, Ducati didn’t spend much time or energy on advertising. The print advertisement shown at right was one of the very few attempts the marketing team made to promote the model as they were far more interested in selling GT’s and Sports, where they could actually turn a profit.
Imola 1974 - Agostini's Year
Aboard one of the prior year's '73 short stroke Imola bikes, Spaggiari (12) only managed an 8th place in the first leg and dropped out of the second leg, essentially ending the Imola career of the original engine and frame combination. But all was not lost for the Italian fans as Giacomo Agostini would win the race for Italy, just ahead of rising talent Kenny Roberts from the U.S. who would go on to be a multi-year world champion. Photo credit: A. Herl