Beschreibung:

Few marques have achieved so fine a competition record in so short a time as Mondial. Founded in Bologna in 1929, Mondial concentrated on the manufacture of commercial vehicles at first, only turning to motorcycle making in 1948. Flying in the face of accepted wisdom, engineer Alfonso Drusiani believed that it was possible for a four-stroke to compete against the two-strokes - fielded by MV Agusta and Morini - then dominating the ultra-lightweight class. After a successful debut season in 1948 which saw works rider Nello Pagani win the Italian Grand Prix, the little Mondial was further improved for 1949 and Pagani duly brought Mondial its first World Championship. Mondial’s dominance of the 125 class remained just as overwhelming for the next two years, Bruno Ruffo taking the title in 1950 and Carlo Ubbiali in 1951, before Cecil Sandford struck back for MV Agusta in 1952. The mid-1950s would prove to be relatively lean years for Mondial. One ray of hope however, had been the emergence in Italy of a future star - Tarquinio Provini - but even Provini’s prodigious talent could not make up for a lack of machine development. Then, in 1957, Drusiani drew up an entirely new 246cc single and revamped the existing 125. The result was a magnificent return to former glory, Provini ending the season as 125cc World Champion while newly recruited Cecil Sandford took the 250 crown. Sadly, what should have been the dawning of a new golden age for the Bologna marque was not to be: Mondial, along with Moto Guzzi and Gilera, withdrew from Grand Prix racing at the season’s end, and although the firm built a number of - mainly two-stroke - racers in the 1960s, it never achieved the same heights. The machine offered here is one of Mondial’s 250cc Grand Prix racers dating from its resurgent 1957 season and is reported to be a ‘spare’ used by Provini rather than his ‘No.1’ race bike. The very last Mondial singles featured twin overhead camshafts driven by a train of spur gears running up the engine’s right-hand side, whereas this ‘interim’ example has the preceding shaft-and-bevel drive. These machines could be fitted with five-, six- or seven-speed gearboxes according to the nature of the circuit, and this example has the seven-speed unit. The front brake and seat are later upgrades almost certainly dating from the Villa brothers’ period of association with Mondial during the 1960s, when the four-stroke singles were briefly revived before the firm turned its attention to a new generation of two-strokes. ‘268’ underwent a meticulous restoration in 1995 and has not been raced since completion. Presented in working order and ‘race ready’, it represents a rare opportunity to obtain a genuine ex-works Mondial of great historic and technical interest. The machine is offered with German ‘Veteran Vehicle’ documentation.