• Year of manufacture 
    1974
  • Motorcycle type 
    Street
  • Lot number 
    210
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Colour  
    Other
  • Location
    United Kingdom

Description

  • One of 401 early ‘round case’ examples
  • Listed in Ian Falloon’s seminal 750 SS registry
  • Highly original, including retaining its original paint
  • Currently showing only 17,401 km
  • One of the most desirable and important Ducati models of all time
  • Please note that buyer’s premium for this lot is 20%

Please note that this lot is titled as a 1975.

Ducati’s 750 Super Sport received rave reviews by the motorcycling press, being hailed by Cycle magazine as “a bike that stands at the farthest reaches of the sporting world – the definitive factory-built café racer.”

In the United States, the exploits of Cycle magazine’s 750 SS road racer, tuned by the late Phil Schilling and ridden by then editor Cook Neilson, were detailed in the pages of the magazine, attracting worldwide attention. Similarly, importer Berliner regularly publicized the exploits of Neilson, Jon White, and others as they gained numerous successes at club level events. This culminated in 1977 when Neilson smashed all comers in the hotly contested Daytona Superbike race on the 750 SS, then highly modified (and painted a dark blue) and nicknamed “Ol’ Blue.”

Just over 400 of the resulting 750 SS ‘green frame’ street versions were produced for the 1974 model year. It did not take long for attrition to thin the numbers as racers utilized the lusty horsepower delivered by the unique desmodromic valvetrain and massive 40-mm carburetors.

This incredible Ducati 750 Super Sport has been ridden only 17,401 km since new, remaining in exceptionally clean and mostly original condition, especially for a motorcycle designed to be raced and ridden hard. This 750 SS was pictured and mentioned in The Book of the Ducati 750 SS by Ducati expert Ian Falloon, as well as being listed in his seminal registry for the model. It was further documented in a May 2003 article in Robb Report by Fluto Shinzawa. Guy Webster, Italian motorcycle aficionado and the owner at the that time, gave a very complimentary mention apart from all of his other highly collectable Italian bikes.

“The reason this is so important is because Ducati won the world championship with the 750. When they made 200 replicas, they were made by the race department. It’s not a factory bike made to look like the original. It had the Carilla rods and motor, the 40 mm stock carb, the fiberglass tank which was illegal—all the good stuff. It was a real race bike. I put pipes on it and went racing. I like it as a street bike. It’s the ultimate café racer of the early ’70s.”

Only 401 examples of the original ‘round case’ version were built and today they are regarded as a true landmark model and arguably the most widely sought-after of all Ducati motorcycles ever produced.To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo20.


RM Sotheby's
5 Heron Square
Richmond
TW9 1EL
United Kingdom
Contact Person Kontaktperson
Title 
Mr
First name 
Augustin
Last name 
Sabatie-Garat

Phone 
+44-2078517070