The first appearance in the UK of a machine bearing the Ducati name occurred in the early 1950s, taking the form of a 48cc cyclemotor engine unit attached to a conventional bicycle. It was marketed by Britax (London) Ltd., who acted as concessionaires for Ducati Meccanicia S.p.A., of Bologna. Soon, Ducati began manufacturing complete machines, in the lower capacity sizes to start with, but gradually increasing in size, until they had a range of models comparable to most of their contemporaries, to whom they offered ever increasing competition. They certainly caused the British motorcycle industry to sit up and take notice as they began taking a useful share of the UK domestic market. Their main attraction was their typical Italian styling and performance that would outpace that of many of their rivals. As has always been the case, racing successes aided sales, and this became particularly noticeable in the early 1970s when the Bologna factory began making large capacity wide angle vee twins. Made with both desmodromic and conventional valve gear, the seal was set when Paul Smart won the 200 mile Formula One race at Monza on a 750cc model. To the obvious delight of the Italian spectators, second place was taken by an Italian national,Bruno Spaggiari, making it a Ducati one-two. The twins also achieved notoriety in production machine races, especially in the Barcelona 24 hour races, where they were very successful for many years. Undoubtedly the greatest ever victory took place in 1978, when Mike Hailwood made a dramatic return to Formula 1 racing in the Isle of Man TT. He brought his 900cc vee twin into first place after an epic ride, to claim his 10th world title. Sadly, the company later encountered financial difficulties and was subsequently acquired by Cagiva, which permitted production to continue along the already well established lines, whilst retaining the Ducati name. The vee twins continue their run of racing successes. This book is the second Ducati title in the Gold Portfolio series, the first relating to the early production models up to 1973 and brings the coverage of the models made by this relative newcomer to motorcycling's ranks, up to 1978. This book covers the Ducati story with 43 international articles on the 250, 350, 450, 750, 860 & 900 models. Road & comparison tests, specifications, new model intros, technical data, history, etc. 172 pages, 300 illus. SB.