miniscule but mighty Morini Special

My mate Loreno in Italy is a genius when it comes top building bikes from scratch - check out the Maserati Rospo in issue one of the magazine, that's his handywork, built because the bloke he built it for couldn't find an original.

Loreno also built this Morini special, from scratch. Using a knackered old Morini Corsarino that had been virtually destroyed since the late '60s by generations of teenagers, this beautiful machine came to light. Loosely styled looks-wise on the Morini 175cc Settebello single cylinder that was raced by privateers in late 50s/early 60s Italy (including some geezer called Giacomo Agostini who started his career on one), a Morini 'Settebello 50cc' never actually existed as an official factory model, as it's probable that it would have sold like hot cakes. Morini came close, very close, with the Corsarino Sport 50 ZZ.

Loreno chose to adorn the special with a 22mm Dell'Orto with remote float bowl, Fontana front brake, massive Veglia white face rev counter and Marzocchi front end from a 350 Aermacchi. The finished result is the bollocks, as we say in London where I'm from. I rode it a year or so back; fast - 60mph fast, furious and deafening, as only a small Italian race motorcycle can be. We'll put it in the magazine sometime soon....