FOLLOWING FASHION
Travelling through Europe to attend the FIM World Trials Championship rounds always throws up some surprises in the way of motorcycle shops and old museums. They often house rare and exotic motorcycles just as I found when I came across a rare Italian brand.
In 2019, at the excellent Arco Di Trento Metzler Off-Road Park located near Trento in the north of Italy, I came across this Ancillotti CT 125 trials model. On site is a superb off-road shop and, at every world round, they display some exotic and rare trials models. I have never seen this Italian manufacturer’s attempts at the motorcycle trials market in the flesh before. As I made some enquires, it turns out that the Italian brand had opened the door in the mid-70s to its fellow motorcycle manufacturers into the trials world as the domination of the Spanish began to fade away.
In many ways, it reminded me of the early Sprite trials machines Frank Hipkin had manufactured in the final days of the oncegreat motorcycle domination of trials in Great Britain. In the UK, a cottage industry of small manufacturers of trials machines
“… Ancillotti prototypes was rewarded when the team won the 125cc Italian IWF trophy in 1977…”
existed, and Italy was no different. Frank Hipkin used donor engines from Europe to power his small-capacity machines. In contrast, the Italians had access to their homemanufactured single-cylinder two-stroke engines such as the Franco Morini engine. Here we take a brief look at Ancelotti’s entry into the trials market.
ALESSIO BARTOLINI
The Ancillotti story started around 1972 when Alessio Bartolini, a student at the University of Florence, was studying for a degree in political science before he realised that his chosen subject was not ‘growing on him’. His spare time was taken up as an enduro and motocross rider so, instead, he began a career as a sports photographer, which allowed him to combine his hobby with his work.
While visiting the events, Alessio took photographs for the Italian motocross magazine, Moto Toscana. He lived in Florence and opened a photo studio, and became the official photographer for the Ancillotti motorcycle company which was dedicated to small motorcycles between 50 and 125cc, which were popular in Italy.
He, along with fellow Italian Carlo Camarlinghi, produced ideas for a trials motorcycle using the drawing boards at Ancillotti’s facilities. They had heard about the French brand, BPS, and that it planned to develop a trial motorcycle using the Italian Franco Morini engine, so they asked the company to build them one as well. The engine was also used widely for many small-capacity engine manufacturers in Europe such as Aspes and Monark. Thus, in the middle of 1976, one of the first Italian trials machines was finally built.
PRODUCTION
It did not go unnoticed by Ancillotti’s managing director, Piero Ancillotti, who decided to use this prototype as a way forward to a production trials model. With the capabilities of the motorcycle plant and its equipment, the original prototype was revised for production and the 125cc Franco Morini engine was kept.
At the beginning of 1977, Ancillotti made a small batch of pre-production machines to evaluate the performance. Three young riders Mauro Zambonin, Maurizio Morgati and Marco Barca, were supplied by the Ancillotti factory with a van for transport, bringing professionalism which was previously unknown for trials events in Italy.
The factory support for the three young riders with their Ancillotti prototypes was rewarded when the team won the 125cc Italian IWF trophy in 1977 and consequently received appropriate attention in the press. With minor changes derived from the experience of the trophy win the production was started.
From a very humble start and the opening of the ‘door’ by Ancillotti, only Beta would survive to the present day as a producer of trials motorcycles in Italy.
Classic Trial Magazine would like to thank both John Moffat – the ‘Trials Guru’ – and KurtPatrik Beckmann for their help with this article.