Grand Prix history students will know this engine immediately – no one ever forgets a mechanical engineering masterpiece like this after being first introduced to it. The 1955 - 57 Moto Guzzi V8, or 'the Otto Cilindri', is an important achievement in the history of motorcycle racing and even within the annals of human engineering history.
Moto Guzzi V8
Moto Guzzi exposed the V8 to the press in 1955 when announcing plans for the company's assault of the FIM Grand Prix World Championship 500 cc Class; team manager Fergus Anderson attached a line drawing of the V8 to this release challenging those reading it to guess what the new configuration would be for their Blue Riband machine. Not a soul could have known what was coming.
The conception of the Moto Guzzi V8 had started many years before. During the previous years, the Italian firm had been busy producing many varied configurations of racing engine – from lay-down singles, twins, triples and fours, boxer twins, V-twins, in-line two, three and four cylinder engines, and all had some level of success.
It was what the engineers learned from the not-so-successful, though, which helped them in designing and building the new race bike. It took a team consisting of Enrico Cantoni, Umberto Todero, Ken Kavanagh, and even manager Anderson – all working with designer Dr. Giulio Carcano – to finally create the Moto Guzzi Grand Prix V8 500 cc motorcycle.
A V8 Displacing 500 CC
The engine residing within the Moto Guzzi V8 GP machine is where much of the brilliance and wonder of this machine is most concentrated – water-cooled, double-overhead cam, with eight cylinders, each 41 mm by 44 mm in bore and stroke, set in a 90° V configuration, displacing 499 cc (30.5 cubic-inch), and fed by eight Dell'Orto 20 mm carburetors.
What really amazes, though, is how so much engine could be so light – this entire lump, in a time before exotic alloys and Finite Element Analysis, weighed only 99 pounds (45 kg) and, together with the bike's chassis and running gear, the entire machine set the scale at 298 pounds (135 kg).
The overall dimensions of the Moto Guzzi V8 were narrower than most could imagine at the time; the technology needed to make parts with such tight tolerances and within spec was very difficult to use in a time before CNC mills. Even with the dustbin fairing fitted, it was a mere 30 mm wider than the svelte Moto Guzzi 350 GP single. Tight confines were helped with the transmission being in-unit with the crankcase and, like the cams, connected by gears with the crank – which also held eight connecting rods - housed there.
That tiny Moto Guzzi V8 produced an impressive-for-the-time 62 horsepower, but it eventually achieved between 78 and 80 horsepower at circa 12,000 RPM, depending on the source consulted; a phenomenal amount of power which was simply too much for tires, frame design and suspension of the time.
V8 Performance
The early version of the V8, that being 1956, clocked in at a competition-crushing top speed of 160 MPH (258 Km/h). A later version of the same race machine was recorded at 178 MPH (286 Km/h) during development at the 1957 Belgian Grand Prix; and, it is said that the V8 reached 187 MPH (301 Km/h) at a test track run by the MIRA organization inFrance. Machines capable of matching the Moto Guzzi V8's speed did not return to the FIM Grand Prix until nearly two decades later.
The Moto Guzzi V8 GP was far ahead of its time – metallurgy, chassis design, tires, and maybe even the circuits of the day were technologically insufficient for the power the V8 could produce.
Ultimately, Moto Guzzi killed the V8 all by itself by completely withdrawing from motorcycle racing at the end of 1957. The machines were plagued by teething problems, but were most very minor. It was in its final running season when it finally won a big race with Dickie Dale piloting the Moto Guzzi V8 at the Easter Imola Gold Cup inItaly.
Having a chance to look at the Moto Guzzi V8 engine is not easy as only two authentic models produced for the original racer exist, and both are located at the Mandello del Lario Moto Guzzi Museum. One is in a complete GP chassis and the other is displayed beside, sadly looking for a day when it will be brought back to life. If you ever get to theLakeComoarea ofItaly, do not miss your chance to feast your eyes on a piece of human engineering passion and capabilities – the Moto Guzzi V8 Grand Prix racer.
