Born September 10 1920 in Lugo di Romagna, Fabio Taglioni graduated in engineering in 1943 and began his career as a designer at Mondial, the Italian motorcycle manufacturer.
Fabio Taglioni played an important role in the histories of Ceccato, Mondial and Ducati.
Taglioni was an aircraft engineer during World War II, following which he completed his education at the University of Bologna where he earned a degree in industrial engineering.
He took a position with Pietro Ceccato in Vicenza as a design consultant in 1950. His first piece for Ceccato was a 75cc OHC engine which proved enormously successful, gaining laurels in the grueling Motogiro d'Italia. This gained the attention of Mondial, who head-hunted him in 1952.
From there Taglioni moved to Ducati in the position of Technical Director from May 1, 1954 to 1989 during which time he designed over 1000 engines, many of which use the Desmo system which he introduced in 1956, fitted to the Ducati Desmo 125 Trialbero.
He began drawing up a new 90° "L" twin, and had Leopoldo Tartarini of Italjet help refine the the machine, using frames built by Colin Seeley.
Ducati decided to re-enter motorcycle competition and in early 1971 five 500cc V-twins were ready to compete in Italian championship and Grand Prix events.
The twins achieved numerous victories, among them first and second place in the Imola 200 Miglia of 1972 with Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari, and the Isle of Man TT in 1978 with Mike Hailwood.
His fame spread across the world. English-speaking motorcyclists added Taglioni to their Italian vocabulary of pasta, prima donna and paparazzi.
Dr. T. died in Bologna on July 18, 2001.
Further reading:
Phil Aynsley's entertaining account of A Party with Fabio Taglioni
Wordsmith Mark Daniels writes of Taglioni at Ceccato.
"He wasn't just an engineer, he was something else." Taglioni at motorvalley.it
