1954 Gilera 247cc Nettuno Sport
Frame no. 216799
Engine no. 216799
Gilera first sprang to prominence in the late 1930s, when its supercharged four-cylinder racers trounced BMW in Grands Prix, and snatched the world speed record away from the German marque. Throughout the early 1950s it was the racers which again grabbed the headlines, the Arcore marque's fours taking five manufacturer's titles and six individual championships in the hands of riders such as Duke, Liberati, and Masetti. Although racing generated valuable publicity, it was sales of road bikes that paid the bills. Best known and most successful large-capacity Gilera roadster of the period was the 500cc Saturno. Less familiar outside Italy was its baby brother the Nettuno (Neptune) - a 247cc, overhead-valve, four-stroke single - which, like its larger contemporary, employed the horizontally-sprung, friction-damped, swinging-arm rear suspension first seen on the pre-war blown four. The Turismo produced 11bhp while the more powerful Sport, with alloy cylinder head, came with 13 horsepower on tap. Top speeds were 64mph and 78mph respectively. Production of both models ended in 1954. This Nettuno Sport has been restored by a friend of Giancarlo Morbidelli. There is no registration document with this Lot.
