1950 - 1980

Our Story

1950 - 1980

At the end of 40’s Giuseppe Benelli, due to disagreements with his brothers, left the company. It was the beginning of Motobi, with classic 2 and 4-stroke egg-shaped engines of small and medium displacement. These new bikes were a sales and race success with more than 1000 racing victories in the 50’s and 60’s. The manufacturing activity at Benelli continued in 1951 with the introduction of the ‘Leoncino’ whose great sales success was at its peak when Benelli won the first ‘Motogiro d’Italia’ in 1953 with the racer Tartarini. In 1961, Benelli celebrated its first 50 years and the following year, the two brands Benelli and Motobi were merged back into one. This was the historic time of Provini and Pasolini, on 4-cylinder 250cc’s and of Benelli’s second world title in 1969 with the Australian racer Kelvin Carruthers. A wide range of models characterized the production Benelli-Motobi’s in the 60’s, from scooters to the ‘Tornado’, a maxi bike 2-cylinder 650cc. The Tornado was the last original creation of Benelli. In 1972 the company was bought by the Argentinean entrepreneur Alejandro De Tomaso. The new owners re-launched and enlarged the product range presenting multi-cylinder motorcycles and a prestigious 750cc 6-cylinder (the first 6-stroke motorcycle produced in series available for purchase by the general public) while building a new and modern factory.