After an absence of almost forty years, the most monstrous, powerful, and imposing Ducati ever built, the massive Apollo cruiser, returned home to the Borgo Panigale factory in 2002. Originally constructed as a police bike for the American market, the Apollo proved the "Spruce Goose" of Ducatis, far too heavy for the tires and the engine output of the day, and as a result only two were ever produced.

On hand for the reception of this last surviving Apollo was a visibly excited Livio Lodi, then Assistant Curator of the Ducati Museum (he is the Curator today), who vowed to return the Apollo home the first time he saw it six years before. Credit also must go to Ducati Japan's General Manager of that period, Mirko Bordiga, who supervised the bike's transfer, and the gracious donation of the original Apollo's tank and rear light by Andrea Dell'Omo.

The four-cylindered, 1300 cc beast, arrived on generous loan from its current home in the collection of Iroaki Iwashita in Japan, and was immediately sent down the long factory corridor to the workshop of Ducati veterans and mechanical gurus Giuliano Pedretti and Primo Forasassi for restoration to its original condition. The fully restored motorbike, exactly as it appeared at the Daytona Motorcycle Fair of 1965, has been on display in the Ducati Museum between 2002 and 2003.

Daniel Lehrer



 For more on the history of the Apollo, click here.




The Apollo is the largest bike ever produced by Ducati.

Only two Apollos were ever produced.

In 1963 no tyre could stand the power of the Apollo's 1,300 cc engine.