The Morbidelli Museum disappears, the bikes removed

The Morbidelli Museum is disappearing and no one knows what will come of the 350 works of art exhibited inside. The only thing we do know, as reported by Italy's Il Resto del Carlino, is that four trucks with English plates were parked at the entrance loading up the bikes.

The Museum went on sale in February, but it seems no one came forward, or at least not in time. The Morbidelli family has provided no information and it appears as if the bike are headed for auction in the UK. Needless to say, this is a serious loss for Italian historic motorcycling heritage.

We are talking about 350 bikes, some unique, among which the Morbidellis that won in 125 with Paolo Pileri and Pierpaolo Bianchi and in 250 with Mario Lega. And that's not all, because there is also a prototype car that never went into production and some prestigious pieces from other brands, such as the only example of the 1965 Ducati 125 4 cylinder, or the 1942 Benelli 250 4 cylinder with compressor. The collection would be worth several million Euro, but we can have no precise idea of course.

In recent months, the Pesaro Comune appeared to be interested but relations with the Morbidelli family deteriorated over time and in the end, nothing came of it. There was also hope that the ASI (the Italian Historic Automotoclub) would get involved, having previous bought the Museo Bertone, but a change at the top saw time tick by and “once the window opened we were told it was too late ” stated Paolo Marchinelli, vice-president of the Benelli historic registry.

With no further information, it's difficult to envisage a happy ending for the Museum, founded by Giancarlo in 1999: 3000 square metres in which he exhibited his and many other bikes that told the story of motorcycling through the 1900s.

Giancarlo has been in poor health for a long while and his son Gianni, former Formula 1 driver, has decided to sell it all, the only hope is that he wants to keep the family's race bikes, something he seems intent on doing.

Meanwhile, the trucks cross the Channel, carrying not just simple bikes, but a piece of history that will perhaps disappear for ever.