1956 Moto Guzzi 247cc Airone Sport
Registration no. JFO 448
Frame no. M22737
Engine no. 97118

Carlo Guzzi's very first prototype motorcycle of 1919 was unconventional in so far as its 500cc single-cylinder engine was installed horizontally and built in unit with the gearbox, and although the company would eventual turn to other engine layouts, the 'flat single' had established itself as a Guzzi hallmark by the end of the 1930s. Guzzi recommenced production post-WW2 with range of updated pre-war designs, which in the case of the 250cc Airone (heron), first introduced in 1939, meant it gained a telescopic front fork, larger diameter brakes and an aluminium-alloy cylinder barrel and 'head. In 1949 a second model - the Sport - became available, the original being renamed Turismo. Boasting a higher compression ratio and larger carburettor, the more powerful Airone Sport offered a 73mph top speed and the ability to cruise at 60mph all day, and remained a top-seller well into the 1950s. First registered in the UK in 1996, this Airone Sport was last taxed in 2007 and will require re-commissioning and the usual safety checks before returning to the road. We are advised that it has been started but not ridden in the intervening period, and would respond well to detailing. The machine is offered with purchase receipt (1996), a quantity of expired MoT certificates and old/current V5/V5C documents.