Ducati has built their one millionth motorcycle at the Borgo Panigale factory.
While they’re behind some of their competitors in terms of vehicles built, the machine is still a milestone for the Italian marque; Europe has seen dozens of manufacturers rise and fall since Ducati started building motorcycles in the 1940s. Ducati themselves have been close to extinction, but they’ve managed to stay in business through good years and bad while so many competitors folded.
The millionth motorcycle mark was, fittingly, a Monster 1200. The original Monster debuted in 1992, and played a big part in the brand’s strength in the past two decades. Even more fittingly, the millionth motorcycle wasn’t some fancy one-off built for a celebrity; the customer was a 47-year old man from Milan who’s a long-time Ducati rider, and doesn’t appear to be some sort of pretentious bigwig. The bike has a laser-engraved handlebar clamp, but otherwise it sounds as if the factory left it stock. Let’s hope the customer uses the machine as intended – on the roads.
