I saw an ad for an auction of military and civilian vehicles at Chiswick House. There was some interesting stuff in the thumbnails so I had a look. The second lot was described as a Moto Guzzi V7 850 but clearly it wasn't, it had the wrong number of cylinders for a start.
So someone was wrong on the Internet, one can't let such things rest.
What was this machine? Some sort of military Moto Guzzi with an engine that looked like a Lodola (175 or 235 sloper) on steroids. I looked though my Guzzi books and searched online and couldn't find anything similar.
At this point I called in help and our own Peter came up with the goods, it is a 1959 350 military prototype. I now had to ponder the reality of owning what might be a one-off but the thought that maybe nobody else knew what it was was very tempting. I thought I should go along and have a low bid in case nobody else had twigged.
A couple of days before the sale the online listing was updated to 350 Military Prototype, maybe the secret was out. On the day there was a motorcycle tent full of Zundapps and BMWs, a couple of DKWs, the 350 and a Guzzi Nuovo Falcone with just 885 km on the clock. I decided to have a low punt on the two Guzzis.
The first lot was a bicycle then came the 350. Someone bid the starting price and I raised my card for the next bid, after that nothing. It was mine for the price of a decent laptop. Slightly stunned I sat through the Zundapps, BMWs, jeeps and suchlike until the Nuovo Falcone came up. That rapidly went about my bargain price threshold, so I didn't bid and my garage sighed with relief.
A few days later the beastie was delivered and what a thing it is. Sand cast casings and a meaty, heavily finned barrel. It has compression and looks like it has been used but the electrics are a puzzle at the moment so I'll be tracing the loom while I wait for a 6v battery.
Many thanks to Peter for his invaluable help.
Pictures at:
Moto Guzzi 350 Militare
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