The ANCILLOTTI brand is back on track, relaunching with the recognition of five historic trademarks. The brand has indeed obtained registrations from the Ministry of Economic Development in the Special Register of Historic Trademarks of National Strategic Interest with the numbers 29, 126, 128, 402, and 732.
These are trademarks that have been in continuous use for over 50 years.
This is an important step that revives and brings to the present a glorious history.
"The Ancillotti mechanical workshop," explain Massimo Viti and Maurizio De Rosa (respectively on the right and left in the photo above), CEO and social media manager of the company, "was founded by Ernesto Ancillotti in 1907 in San Frediano, a district of Florence.
The activity was later carried on by his son Gualtiero, who began to stand out as a motorcycle customizer.
From his workshop came the first Harley-Davidson motorcycles modified with a flexible rather than rigid frame and customized Innocenti Lambrettas.
With these, he managed to set a world speed record in Monza in 1965, and in 1966, two more world speed records on the Elvington circuit in England, still unbeaten today over the quarter-mile with a standing start and over the flying kilometer.
Following these sporting successes, the production and commercialization of Ancillotti tuning kits for Lambrettas, sports seats, and exhaust pipes began.
In 1967, a production line for motorcycles under the Ancillotti brand was launched, and these bikes, thanks to the insights and technical innovations of Alberto, Gualtiero's son, including the Pull-Shock, achieved numerous victories in national and international competitions."
Ancillotti also achieved excellent commercial results, so much so that in the early 1970s, it moved beyond the artisanal phase to become a structured company with a modern production facility and assembly line in the Chianti area, in Sambuca Val di Pesa (Florence).
This led to an annual production capacity of about 3,000 vehicles, with over 40,000 units produced in total.
More than 100 models of motorcycles were created here: from enduro, cross, trial, regularity, and competition bikes, in various versions and engine sizes, all characterized by high performance that made them a status symbol for off-road enthusiasts and an icon in the sector.
The most famous model was the Scarab, in the 50 and 125 c.c. versions, the object of desire for many young people of the time.
"Production continued until the mid-1980s," says Massimo Viti, "when competition pressure, especially from major Japanese manufacturers, became unsustainable.
In 1995, the Ancillotti historical register was established, registered with the FMI, and the Scarab Club was founded, with Alfredo Gramitto Ricci (Casa Editrice Ricordi) as its president and founder. He also set up a museum dedicated to the brand in Milan, with over 180 motorcycles on display.
Starting in 1986, Alberto Ancillotti transferred the know-how from motocross to mountain bikes.
Thus, since the late 1980s, the brand has been a leading player in competitive enduro and downhill, achieving great success, from the national title in 1992 to two world titles in 1993 and 2009, and victories in the DH and Enduro category world championships in 2019, 2020, and 2023.
In 2005, brothers Alberto and Piero Ancillotti sold the trademarks," says Viti, "and the new owner transferred them in 2009 to Ancillotti Motorcycles Srl."
In 2018, Ancillotti Motorcycles was sold to the current owners, a group of Tuscan entrepreneurs.
Today, the holding company owns 100% of the shares of the Ancillotti group and boasts about twenty brands, managing separately the three most important core businesses: motorcycles, bicycles, and co-branding.
"The Ancillotti Motorcycles division is responsible for the study and design of new enduro and cross motorcycle models," they explain, "both with internal combustion and electric engines, for the research and development of integrated electric motors for MTB and gravel bikes, for the design and construction of EU-certified batteries.
And also: customizations of café racer motorcycles, artisanal production of sports seats and exhausts for vintage Lambrettas, and the creation of custom tuning kits for the new Lambretta Special models that will be presented by summer 2024."
The second core business is that of bicycles.
This sector, born in the late 1980s thanks to Alberto Ancillotti, is managed by him and his son Tomaso under license from Ancillotti Motorcycles. "In these forty years, Ancillotti has created true works of art: downhill and enduro MTBs," they say. "These are ultra-high-performance competition bikes in 7020 aluminum, handcrafted to measure in about a hundred units per year.
Built in Italy with a certified supply chain, they represent an excellence of the Florentine tradition, although for just over a year, the production of frames has been done in Ivrea. Today, Alberto designs and develops new competition MTB models in aluminum and carbon for the Ancillotti brand."
Other development sectors include fashion, with the new Iconic T-Shirt collection, a collaboration with Gerard Loft Florence, sneakers, and luxury watches, with an Ancillotti/Allemano Time Turin co-brand, which anticipates the release by summer 2024 of the two Daytime Cross Ancillotti Motorcycles 60th Limited Edition models.
Finally, a book on the historic brand will be published shortly.
These steps, along with the inclusion in the Special Register of Historic Trademarks of National Strategic Interest, project Ancillotti's glorious past toward a future of new opportunities.