c1970 Moto Guzzi Ambassador 750 Motorcycle

Description

The story of the Moto Guzzi V-twins can be traced back to late 1950s and a design by Ing Giulio Cesare Carcano that initially saw service in the Fiat 500 and an off road vehicle. Following an tender from the Italian police to build a new motorcycle in the early 1960s, Moto Guzzi took the V-twin concept and further developed it into a bike capable of patrolling the autostradas at high speed, duly winning the contract from rivals Benelli, Gilera and Laverda. A civilian version, the V7, was developed alongside and entered production in 1967. The four-stroke 703cc engine developed 40hp at 5000rpm and a stylish red/chrome finish in a black cradle frame. Naturally Moto Guzzi looked to sell the V-twin in the home of the big cruiser, America, with the Ambassador built specifically for the US market in 1969-1970, with the brake pedal on the right-hand side and larger capacity 757cc engine. With 9:1 compression ratio, the Ambassador was rated at 55hp SAE and reached 185km/h in testing. The Ambassador was a big success for Moto Guzzi and ten were supplied to the LAPD for testing in March 1969, with a further 85 eventually ordered and other police forces across the country followed suit. Film buffs may recall Sean Connery as James Bond riding one in ?Diamonds are Forever?. For 1970 minor changes were made to the specification, with a new instrument layout consisting of both a speedometer and tachometer, and production continued to rise.