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Description

We are offering for sale a piece of Italian two-wheeled history, a 1946 Moto Guzzi 250 Airone, one of the first examples of the new post-war production. It still features its extremely rare original four-digit Brescia province license plate depicting the fasces seal, a symbol of the Italian state and later of the Republic of Salò during the twenty-year Fascist period. It is one of the very few to survive the removal and replacement campaign carried out by the Police Headquarters and other competent authorities during the "de-fascistization" process.
The motorcycle is in perfect working order and excellent condition, and has a CRS FMI.

Model history and curiosity

The Moto Guzzi 250 Airone is one of the most iconic motorcycles in the history of the Mandello del Lario manufacturer. Designed just before the outbreak of World War II (in 1939), large-scale production resumed in 1946, becoming the most popular and popular medium-displacement motorcycle in Italy for over fifteen years, marking a period of rebirth. The Airone immediately established itself as an extremely reliable, robust, and versatile motorcycle, capable of meeting the needs of a nation rebuilding itself and requiring an efficient means of transportation for both work and leisure.
The Airone 250 is famous for its classic Guzzi construction scheme of the time: a horizontal, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine with a displacement of 246.3 cm³, capable of delivering 9.5 hp at 4,500 rpm, overhead valves with pushrod timing that allowed for a very low center of gravity, improving stability, and a four-speed foot-operated gearbox with constant mesh, propelling the bike to a top speed of approximately 95 km/h. The frame is a double cradle closed in steel tubing, weighing approximately 140 kg.
The bike's strong points were its reliability—the engine was in fact derived from the experience of the PE250 series, but with improvements made during wartime research—and its mechanical simplicity made it easy to repair. The chassis—the Airone design—was cutting-edge for its time, offering an excellent compromise between handling in traffic and comfort over long distances. Its aesthetics, with its elegant lines and tapered fuel tank, became a symbol of Italian style. It was characterised by the famous "external flywheel" (visible on the side of the engine), a distinctive element of many historic Guzzis.