Ducati radio

[Nolan Woodbury]

Being in motorcycle journalism for years and loving motorcycles, especially European ones and Italian makes in particular, I've known for a long time that Ducati made radios before they made motorbikes.

I've been to the factory, and the museum, but I've never seen one this large or impressive:



Ducati's radio and electronics production was a post-war start up; an effort to supply the war-torn country with low-priced goods. Thus, all of the Ducati-brand radios I've seen were small, plastic, single band units (broadcast) about the size of the early transistor table sets.

This one is clearly multi-band, with what looks like a fairly elaborate multi-grain cabinet. I wonder if it could be a fake, to cash in on this very popular name? It's to be auctioned off in Florida, along with a pretty good number of two-wheeled goods.

Here's the website, if you'd like to look at the motorcycles too:

http://www.jwoodandcompany.com/2008/...signments1.htm