Picture story: Before Ducatis were fast

Here’s a trio of pocket-size Ducatis that promises to challenge your preconceptions about this storied Italian marque, currently enjoyiing its most successful year in the UK ever.

Petite, sweet and pretty as a handful of chocolates from the Christmas tin, this 200cc Elite, and 125cc and 85cc Sports, stem from 1959, ’62 and ’61 respectively – a time before Ducati was synonymous with L-twins, desmodromic valves or sporting success.

It wasn’t until the Elite’s successor, the 250cc, 100mph Mach 1 in 1965, that the firm’s bikes were even known for being particularly fast. But boy were they cute.