Lino Tonti
| Lino Tonti | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 16, 1920 Cattolica, Italy |
| Died | June 8, 2002 (aged 81) Varese |
| Occupation | Motorcycle designer |
| Employer | Benelli, Aermacchi, Mondial, Paton, Bianchi, Gilera, Moto Guzzi |
Lino Tonti (September 16, 1920 – June 8, 2002) was an Italian motorcycle engineer known for designing a number of sport and racing motorcycles in the 1950s and 1960s, and for creating his signature 'Tonti frame' for Moto Guzzi's 1967 V7 Sport, setting his stamp on all Moto Guzzis since.
Tonti's first job was at Benelli, where he worked on a road racing supercharged four, and then after World War II he went to Aermacchi. In 1957 he went to work for Count Giuseppe Boselli at F.B. Mondial, and helped break MV Agusta's Moto GP dominance of lightweight two-stroke Grand Prix motorcycle racing in that year. After Mondial made a secret deal with Gilera, Moto Guzzi, and MV Agusta to quit racing, Tonti went to Bianchi where he designed 250 cc four-stroke twins.
With his assistant Alcide Biotti, Tonti built the Linto Grand Prix racer, a four-stroke twin that reached fourth place in the 1968 championship, and placed second in 1969, and continued to make appearances against more powerful two-strokes in 1970 1971 and 1972. It was a six-speed pushrod straight-twin engine made in 1967–68 using the top ends, that is, the cylinders and heads, from Aermacci's horizontal single DS racer, combined with a new crankcase.
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