Villafranca, 30th March 2012 – For the enthusiasts it is a cult bike, with a formidable string of top records and victories. Pirelli Zero, the Milanese company’s Industrial Design project with its brand new Pirelli flagship store in Corso Venezia, is just as much of a cult. The store, which opened last September in Corso Venezia, in the heart of Milan centre, recently exhibited the “Record-breaking Bianchi Tonale 175” and will continue to do so throughout April. Part of a collection of vintage motorcycles belonging to Museo Nicolis in Villafranca, one of today’s most prominent private Italian museums created by Luciano Nicolis, Veronese businessman and avid collector (he is the owner of Lamacart, a leading Italian company dealing in waste paper collection and processing)
the record-winning two-wheeler was created by Alessandro Colombo, a well known engineer who, in 1956, personally supervised the preparation of the bike which went on to achieve a win a large number of events. In that very same year of 1956, it won the Giro d’Italia ridden by Osvaldo Perfetti, followed by the Milano Taranto with Daminelli. In 1956, Franzosi broke the mile record at Castelfusano. In 1957, in order to compete in the duration records, the Tonale was modified with a special trellis frame and a longer pitch but – above all – it was given a special fairing created by the airplane designer and engineer, Nardi. With this version, which makes it unique in the world of racing bikes, it not only beat the 1000 km record at Monza in 1957 but went on to beat the six-hour one too. And it is exactly this “record-breaking Tonale 175 cc” that can be admired in Pirelli’s flagship store in Milan, an absolute must for all those who are looking for the trendiest sports clothes, sports accessories, exclusive items and the latest equipment bearing this prestigious Italian trademark.
From the very day it opened, Pirelli Corso Venezia became known not only as a cool and spectacular store that is able to meet the personal needs of sophisticated customers but also as an exciting place where great events, racing legends and people who have made Italian sport history are celebrated, all of them accompanied by the that constant partner and accomplice, the legendary Pirelli, with its historical, technological, cultural and innovative patrimony. Museo Nicolis’ “record-breaking Bianchi Tonale 175 cc” is a concrete witness and is there, in this beautiful and influential context, to be admired by the public. And what about the tyres on this fireball racing bike that looks as if it has come from outer space? They are Pirelli of course, safe, powerful, reliable and unmistakable.
