History

As often happens, the history of great industries is born in garages. In our case this is the “Benelli Garage”, where, in 1911, the 6 Benelli brothers Giuseppe, Giovanni, Francesco, Filippo, Domenico and Antonio, known as “Tonino”, repaired and manufactured motorcycles parts.

In 1921 the ‘Velomotore’ was created: a single cylinder two strokes 75cc adapted to a bicycle frame, and the following year it was the turn of the ‘Motoleggera’ 98cc, immediately appreciated by the public of that time.

The first real Benelli motorcycle, a 175cc model, ridden by Tonino, proved immediately to be a winner in the competitions world. Here begins the long list of glorious moments, with more than 1000 victories in the Italian and European Championships and two World Titles won in 1950 and 1969.

Many legendary riders have ridden the Benelli motorcycles. Besides Tonino, the owner of the company, the Italian riders Ambrosini, Grassetti, Campanelli, Provini, Pasolini, Villa and the internationals Saarinen, Hailwood and Carruthers.

At the end of the 60’s the last motorcycle of the family-owned company was born; the Tornado 650 which developed 50 hp at 7000 rpm, and easily surpassed 170 km/h. Motorcycle production continued in Pesaro with the ground breaking in line 6 cylinder 750 and 900cc Sei’s which were manufactured up until the early 1980’s.

In 2001 the production of the first all new in line triple powered range began, with the fully faired supersport Tornado 899cc Limited Edition.  The addition of the Tornado Naked Tre or TNT for short, and subsequently the Tre-K in both 899 and 1131 cc variants meant that Benelli was truly back in the market of the large capacity sports motorcycles.

Today Benelli is part of the (QJ) Group, a corporation which produces more than 1.2 million two-wheels vehicles per annum. QJ, wishing to respect the tradition of the passion which has always guided the history of the Italian brand, will continue manufacture in Pesaro, the traditional home of Benelli Motorcycles.
The Benelli brand in the world of competitions.

The undisputable protagonist of the first victories in the world of competitions was Tonino Benelli, who, riding a Benelli 175, conquered the Italian title 4 times from ‘27 to ’31. His many victories in the European Championship were the prelude to one of the most desirable titles for a manufacturing company, the Tourist Trophy. In 1939 Ted Mellors won the title on a Benelli 250.

In 1950 Dario Ambrosini repeated this success, and, above all, won both the Italian and World 250 Championships. In the 60’s two extraordinary riders competed for Benelli: Tarquinio Provini, who won the Italian Championship with a 250 in 1965 and 1966, and Renzo Pisolini who won the 1968 and 1969 Championships with a 250 and then a 350. In 1969, Kel Carruthers also conquered the World 250 Championship and again won the Tourist Trophy, the most gruelling race of all.