Mondial Sogno.
Although well known for their racing successes, FB Mondial were no strangers to producing utilitarian machines, with this, the Sogno (Dream), one of their more unusual offerings.
Mondial was founded by brothers Giuseppe, Luigi, Carlo, Ettore and Ada Boselli (the FB stands for ‘Fratelli Boselli’, Boselli Brothers) a wealthy family fromPiacenza, in the EmiliaRomagna region of northern Italy.
They started with a shop inMilan selling and servicing two-strokemachines built by GD and CM, but quickly saw the potential in producing their ownmachines.
In themid-1930s, the familymoved into premises in Bologna owned by father and son Oreste and Alfonso Drusiani – close friends to the Boselli family and highly skilled engineers. Together, they began producing threewheel vans; the flagship ‘motocarri’ featured a 600cc, overhead cam, long-stroke, single cylinder engine.
The robust and reliable three-wheelers proved popular, but the success was to be short-lived as the workshops took heavy hits during Allied bombing raids. The factory buildings were razed and what littlemachinery left was commandeered by themilitary.
After the hostilities ceased, the Boselli family’s significant financial resourcesmeant the firmwas quickly back up and running, and although the collaboration between the Drusiani family and the
Boselli family continued, the Bosellis took full control of the company. FB effectively relaunched in 1948 as FBMondial.
It also wasn’t long before the firmturned their attention to two wheels. Alfonso Drusiani set about