Mondial (motorcycle Manufacturer)

Mondial (motorcycle Manufacturer)

FB-Mondial was a motorcycle manufacturer from Bologna, Italy between 1948 and 1979, known for its Grand Prix motorcycle racing successes during the 1950s. Prior to World War II, it manufactured delivery tricycles. The firm produced some of the most advanced and successful Grand Prix road racers of the time, winning 5 World Championships.

The "F.B." in the name stood for "Fratelli Boselli", after the owners, the Counts Boselli, a noble family from the Milan area. During a time when MV Agusta and Ducati produced economy lightweight 2-stroke motorcycles, mopeds and scooters, Mondial produced high-quality sporting motorcycles. The Mondial factory in Milan was much smaller than the large Moto Guzzi, Gilera or Benelli concerns, and was more of a "boutique" manufacturer, specializing in high-performance, small-displacement motorcycles. Much of the production of each motorcycle was done by hand, which kept output low, with production numbers typically ranging between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year.

In 1949, when MV Agusta decided to produce a 4-stroke motorcycle, they purchased a Mondial 4-stroke motorcycle to use as an example. After the 1957 Grand Prix season, the major Italian motorcycle manufacturers including Gilera, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta and Mondial announced that they would pull out of Grand Prix competition citing increasing costs and diminishing sales (MV Agusta later reconsidered and continued racing). Mondial had prepared a bike with desmodromic valve actuation (before Ducati) but did not produce it.

The last all-Mondial motorcycle left the factory in 1960. After this, Mondial purchased engines from proprietary makers. In this hybrid form, motorcycles with Mondial frames and ancillary parts, but non-Mondial engines, were produced by the factory for the next 19 years.