DUCATI 999R
RARITY High
UNUSUAL TECH Fabulous quality
NOSTALGIA Could become very high
It’s hard to overestimate the shock we all got when Ducati unveiled the replacement for the beautiful 916/996/998 family. Pierre Terblanche was their styling guru and he was feted by the luvvies of the design world – but most riders in the proverbial Box Hill car park thought his bikes ugly in comparison.
That shock fades over time though, and since Ducati went back to the familiar 916-ish pattern with the 1098 and Panigale lines, the clunky stack-headlighted 999 and 749 line has come back into vogue a little. After all, under the looks was a fantastic bike, good enough to win WSB three times in four years, and a BSB title. And the 999R was a truly stunning machine to ride fast, with a sledgehammer-blow of grunt, blinding top end, and the very finest in chassis gear. Not a cheap option, and rare (there’s 40 on the road and 120-odd SORNED according to DVLA), but could be a very smart buy…