Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Moto Guzzi Gambalunga is a racing motorcycle built from 1946 to 1951 by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi. In 1946 Moto Guzzi returned to racing in the 500 class with the Bicilindrica and with two models derived from the Condor produced before the Second World War. A model intended for private racers nicknamed Dondolino (due to its not exceptional road holding) obtained from the Condor through a few limited updates and a second model, the Gambalunga, much more sophisticated (and intended for official pilots and those "assisted" by Guzzi) which, despite fitting some elements inherited from the Condor (especially the engine), can be considered, to all intents and purposes, a new motorcycle. The most important change for the engine concerns the bore/stroke ratio which went from 88x82 mm on the Condor to 84x90 (the same as the Gilera Saturno), therefore with a long stroke (hence the nickname Gambalunga) to have greater torque and therefore recovery. The changes to the chassis were decidedly more important and clearly distinguished from the Condor and the contemporary Dondolino: new aluminum oil and fuel tanks but above all the original fork with oscillating levers (which would characterize all Guzzi racing production for the following decade) , larger and more efficient brakes.
The racing debut took place at the Circuito della Superba in Genoa on 8 September 1946: Luigi Ruggeri led the race for sixteen laps before retiring due to a broken magneto. A week later, at the Circuito delle Mura in Bergamo, Ferdinando Balzarotti achieved the first victory for the new single-cylinder Guzzi. During the years of production the Gambalunga was subject to changes which concerned the suspension (the triangulated rear swingarm was replaced by a more modern single-arm one) and the engine; in 1948 the latter returned to the original super-square bore/stroke ratio (88x82) introducing three main bearings instead of the original two. The wheels in 1950 went from 21 to 20 inches in diameter. In its latest version, known as "Tipo Faenza", the Gambalunga engine delivered 37 HP at 6,000 rpm (gaining 3 HP and 200 rpm compared to the original version), pushing the 120 kg of the bike (5 less than to the '46 model) at 190 km/h (10 km/h gained compared to the original version). In the last races, an aerodynamic front similar to that of the twin-cylinder was also introduced. Production was limited to 13 units, 7 of the first version and 6 of the second, and its competitive use ceased in 1951; this happened because Gambalunga, which up until now had raced with excellent results against the English single-cylinder machines (remember Enrico Lorenzetti's victory at the Ulster GP, valid as the European Championship, in 1948) and on the slow circuits, very popular at the time, also against the multi-cylinder, it was no longer competitive both against the 4-cylinder Gilera and the new Norton 500 with short stroke and renewed "featherbed" chassis. The qualities recognized to the Gambalunga were its reliability, elasticity, engine pull, handling (enhanced by a low weight obtained with a widespread use of magnesium alloy components but penalized by the long wheelbase); among its defects, the slowness of the gearbox operation. Among the drivers who competed with Gambalunga there were, in addition to the aforementioned Lorenzetti, Ruggeri and Balzarotti, also Omobono Tenni, Guido Leoni, Fergus Anderson and Jean Behra (winner of two French 500 titles, in 1949 and 1950).
The Moto Guzzi Gambalunga is a racing motorcycle built from 1946 to 1951 by the Italian motorcycle manufacturer Moto Guzzi. In 1946 Moto Guzzi returned to racing in the 500 class with the Bicilindrica and with two models derived from the Condor produced before the Second World War. A model intended for private racers nicknamed Dondolino (due to its not exceptional road holding) obtained from the Condor through a few limited updates and a second model, the Gambalunga, much more sophisticated (and intended for official pilots and those "assisted" by Guzzi) which, despite fitting some elements inherited from the Condor (especially the engine), can be considered, to all intents and purposes, a new motorcycle. The most important change for the engine concerns the bore/stroke ratio which went from 88x82 mm on the Condor to 84x90 (the same as the Gilera Saturno), therefore with a long stroke (hence the nickname Gambalunga) to have greater torque and therefore recovery. The changes to the chassis were decidedly more important and clearly distinguished from the Condor and the contemporary Dondolino: new aluminum oil and fuel tanks but above all the original fork with oscillating levers (which would characterize all Guzzi racing production for the following decade) , larger and more efficient brakes.
The racing debut took place at the Circuito della Superba in Genoa on 8 September 1946: Luigi Ruggeri led the race for sixteen laps before retiring due to a broken magneto. A week later, at the Circuito delle Mura in Bergamo, Ferdinando Balzarotti achieved the first victory for the new single-cylinder Guzzi. During the years of production the Gambalunga was subject to changes which concerned the suspension (the triangulated rear swingarm was replaced by a more modern single-arm one) and the engine; in 1948 the latter returned to the original super-square bore/stroke ratio (88x82) introducing three main bearings instead of the original two. The wheels in 1950 went from 21 to 20 inches in diameter. In its latest version, known as "Tipo Faenza", the Gambalunga engine delivered 37 HP at 6,000 rpm (gaining 3 HP and 200 rpm compared to the original version), pushing the 120 kg of the bike (5 less than to the '46 model) at 190 km/h (10 km/h gained compared to the original version). In the last races, an aerodynamic front similar to that of the twin-cylinder was also introduced. Production was limited to 13 units, 7 of the first version and 6 of the second, and its competitive use ceased in 1951; this happened because Gambalunga, which up until now had raced with excellent results against the English single-cylinder machines (remember Enrico Lorenzetti's victory at the Ulster GP, valid as the European Championship, in 1948) and on the slow circuits, very popular at the time, also against the multi-cylinder, it was no longer competitive both against the 4-cylinder Gilera and the new Norton 500 with short stroke and renewed "featherbed" chassis. The qualities recognized to the Gambalunga were its reliability, elasticity, engine pull, handling (enhanced by a low weight obtained with a widespread use of magnesium alloy components but penalized by the long wheelbase); among its defects, the slowness of the gearbox operation. Among the drivers who competed with Gambalunga there were, in addition to the aforementioned Lorenzetti, Ruggeri and Balzarotti, also Omobono Tenni, Guido Leoni, Fergus Anderson and Jean Behra (winner of two French 500 titles, in 1949 and 1950).
