The history of Ducati Pens is an inextricable part of the history of Ducati, the renowned and venerated Italian motorcycle design and engineering “shop.” Representing the latest partnering venture undertaken by the most honoured and distinguished manufacturer in the industry, Ducati Pens are the products of a business alliance with The Aquila Group, a Napoli-based writing instruments designer and manufacturer with over sixty years experience in crafting highly-prized collectors’ items.

In 1926 the Ducati family and other Bolognese investors founded the Società Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna. Their aim was the production of industrial components for the growing field of radio transmissions, based on Adriano Ducati’s patents. The first product, the Manens condenser for radio equipment, rapidly followed by others, was extremely successful throughout the world, allowing the company to expand by leaps and bounds, and winning the respect of the international industrial community. On June 1, 1935, the cornerstone of the factory in Borgo Panigale was laid. An extremely modern and ambitious project, the new complex was the first step in establishing an industrial and technological center in Bologna. During this time the Ducati business further expanded abroad, opening branch offices in London, Paris, New York, Sydney, and Caracas, thereby assuring direct service and assistance to its clientele in all the major world markets.

World War II was extremely hard on Ducati: the Borgo Panigale facilities were bombed to rubble in 1944. Fortunately, the Ducati brothers spent the duration of the war studying and planning new products to be introduced to world markets at the end of the conflict. In 1946, the Cucciolo (Puppy) appeared: the small auxiliary motor for bicycles destined to become the most famous in the world. Based on a Capellino patent, and first sold in an assembly case, to be attached to the bicycle, it was constructed by Caproni (another famous marchio Italiano in the aeronautical field) in Trento, and soon acquired a fame of its own. In short order, the Cucciolo became a true miniature motorcycle. Thanks to the Cucciolo’s success, and that of its descendants, Ducati became an affirmed trademark in the world of things mechanical, more specifically the emerging motorbike and motorcycle sector.

In 1954, design engineer Fabio Taglioni arrived at Ducati. A teacher at Il Tecniche di Imola, and a person destined to become a myth in the motorcycle world, Taglioni had already constructed motorcycles of original technical character and astonishing performance. The Taglioni design—avant-garde and non-conformist—received its baptismal at the races. From his debut at Ducati, the engineer, went to great lengths to personally demonstrate the quality of his solutions, participating in long-distance races such as the Milano-Taranto and Giro d’Italia. By the end of 1956, Ducati production included a four stroke Tourist 174, Special, and Sport models, capable of speeds up to 110-120-135 km/h. At the 1957 Salone del Mobile di Milano, the above-mentioned models appeared together with an America model.

During 1958, Ducati also produced the 200 cc “Elite”. That same year also marked the triumph of the desmodromic system, which engineer Taglioni had, since 1955, been developing for motorcycles. This project resulted in the famous twin-cylinder 250 cc of 1960, ordered from Ducati by the world famous English racer Mike Hailwood™, who specifically requested a machine of “superior” performance.

Over succeeding decades, with astonishing regularity, Ducati continued to set the standards for design and performance. The end of the 1960s coincided with the boom of the “maxibikes.” Once again, engineer Taglioni provided Ducati with the winning weapon. On April 23, 1972, Ducati returned to racing, participating in the Imola 200 Miles, with a new twin cylinder desmodromic 750, entrusted to Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari who finished first and second. The exceptional 750 Supersport was created in response to the spectacular race, and marked the first time that a “big twin” had the power to beat a Japanese in-line four cylinder.

In 1978, Mike Hailwood™, who had grown up with the Ducati single cylinders, and been a record-setter in the world of motorcycle racing for over a quarter century, got “back in the saddle” for the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, astonishing fans, and the general public, with his win at the Formula 1 TT on the mythic mountain. The bike was a Supersport elevated to 900 cc. In recognition of his exceptional effort, Ducati created the splendid limited edition 900 SS Mike Hailwood™ Replica.

In 1983, Ducati was purchased by Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, and became part of the Cagiva Group. With this change of management the group was in the hands of two great bike and racing fans, who together brought the triumphs of the Superbike era to Ducati. Ten years later, in 1993 Argentine Miguel Galluzzi conceived the idea of the Monster. Before the eyes of enthusiasts appeared a truly singular Ducati. The bike was stripped of all inessentials. It represented a unique interpretation of the fun bike category—harking back to the 1920s & ‘30s heyday of American-made bikes that were in concept the forerunners of the “choppers” of a still-to-come generation, made famous in films like Easy Rider—and rapidly became a legend.

Then, in 1995, crisis struck: Despite product innovation and racing successes, Ducati entered into a deep financial slide. Its cash was drained by unsuccessful ventures of sister companies within the Castiglioni group. Ducati had fallen prey to the ‘80s-‘90s diversification mania. In 1996 Ducati was taken over and rescued by Texas Pacific Group, an American investment firm that brought much needed cash and a new group of international managers. Simultaneously, the launch of the ST family allowed Ducati to enter the Sport Touring segment of the market. The new management team, together with the old group of engineers responsible for product design and development, turned the company around, posting quarter after quarter of record sales and profits.

Ducati entered into a period and process of changing from a purely manufacturing company to a sports & entertainment company. Providing a full motorcycling “experience,” the newly revived company, still fully retaining its patrimonio Italiano, the imperishable legacy of the Ducati brothers, centered on the technical excellence of its motorcycles, but also extending its creative energies to racing, cycling heritage, accessories, and apparel. The first World Ducati Weekend underlined the newly found sense of the Ducati Community, bringing together, in Misano, 10,000 Ducatisti from all over the world. This era of turnaround culminated on March 24, 1999 with the listing of Ducati Motor Holding on the New York and Milano Stock Exchanges.

The MH900e was the first motorcycle to be sold exclusively on the Internet. Just a few weeks after the turn of the new millennium, almost prophetically, 2,000 customers had reserved the new motorcycle designed by Pierre Terblanche. Given the success of the MH900e, Ducati increased its strategic commitment to the Internet with Ducati.com, an independent partner enterprise, which established Ducati as a player on the World Wide Web.

The Dream Goes On

2003 saw the return of Ducati to the Grand Prix starting line, with riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi, along with the Desmosedici V4 engine, the result of a long and fascinating development process. The results in this return-to-the-stage year exceeded all expectations: one first place, two second places, six third places, three pole positions and second place overall in the Manufacturers’ classification. In the World Superbike Championships, Ducati won the Riders’ Title again, with Neil Hodgson at the handlebars, along with the Manufacturers’ Title.

Then, in 2005, despite ownership, management, and continental changes, the very same company, born over eighty years before, simultaneously returned to its inventive L'italiano si radica, and set off in a—for a design-engineering and mechanical manufacturing firm—radically new direction. Partnering with The Aquila Group, Ducati bestowed its name, and the spirit of its universally-known design on a completely new line of sport writing machines.

Founded by Leopoldo Aquila, The Aquila Group has decades of pen design and crafting expertise, producing and exporting some of the finest scrivening pieces worldwide. Like the Ducati, the Aquila family has in its genes a passion for design excellence, which is the basis for ongoing development. Leopoldo realised that in addition to being a writing instrument, the pen could also be an expression of artistry, personal interest, and enduring value. Over the decades his philosophy has continued to influence the company, which to this day creates strumenti di scrittura and small leather goods, boldly yet classically designed, and of the highest possible quality.

Through the partnership of these two esteemed famiglie, pen fanciers and collectors who thrill to, if not the actual exhilaration of mastering a powerful, mind-of-its-own road machine, at least the same, vicariously, by attending or otherwise viewing the races; and the die-hard motorcycle enthusiast who loves to write with a finely crafted implement, designed to merge the spirits of both realms; both of these groups of rather particularised individuals now find satisfaction. The Ducati Writing Machines Collection offers chirographic tools of unsurpassed design and craftsmanship, that convey the spirit of “the open road.” The Sport Classic Limited Edition Collection, because of its special trim, and racing colour scheme, recalls the Desmodromic 450s and 750s of the 1970s.

The future bodes well for The Aquila Group’s Ducati line of pens. Vision and skill, born of a deep, shared heritage of culture and artistically rooted engineering principles brought two distinguished aziende a conduzione familiare Italiane together. Both firms survived the Second World War and, or its aftermath of devastation, and flourished in the surviving. Pen fanciers the world over look expectantly for second, third, fourth, and more generations of refined writing implements from the Aquila-Ducati alliance.