Marcelo Doffo shares his fascination with Ducati and the story of his search for the rare 1952 Ducati Cruiser.
Ducati was never originally dedicated to scooters, but twice in factory history they tried building a scooter. The first was revealed in January of 1952 at the Milan fair just to compete with the two biggest scooter companies in Italy: Vespa and Lambretta, and their dominant invasion of the market.
The development of the 1952 Cruiser was the first scooter for Ducati. The Cruiser boasted many innovations for that time. It was the very first scooter with a 4 stroke engine, over head valves, and an electric starter. Giovanni Fiori developed the engine, an automatic 3 speed transmission, in cooperation with the exotic car design firm, “Ghia.” The idea was to produce a product aimed at a special segment of the population, with superior characteristics and an unmistakable look.
Not only was the Cruiser a very innovative project but also very ambitious for the standards of the time. The features of the scooter were almost too advanced. After less than two years of poor sales, along with mechanic, service and reliability issues, Ducati decided to stop production with less than 1200 units built. The Ducati Cruiser was never imported to the USA, and this is one of the big reasons that they are not known here, and if so no more than 5 units or less are currently in the USA.
My fascination with the brand and especially with the scooter has grown year after year, and my search began in 2012. This was my first trip to the best motorcycle Swap Meet in Italy, located in the city of Reggio Emilia fair grounds. It only took me until 2015 to find the correct one and buy it, without having heard the engine run or anything. Its part of what makes it more interesting and exciting. Upon arrival the question was, “will it run?”. The overall condition was really clean and all seemed to be in place. The battery has a very unusual shape and being 6 Volts makes it impossible to replace. Fortunately, it was dry and after some battery acid it revived like new and has held its charge till today. My excitement grew because it was a great beginning, and the next task was to clean the carburetor. The moment of truth had arrived, there was no spark. We proceeded to wire the coil and bypass the ignition for now just to see if it would show some signs of life. The starter cranked poorly at the beginning since it had not been used for at least two decades. The motor made a few attempts to fire and then there it was, a 63 year old engine running smooth.
For a collector and aficionado of this brand, the moment where the final result is taking a ride on this small scooter is marked by a tremendous feeling of success. These accomplishments that may or may not make any sense to many, is not without surprises and a happy ending.