Even among die-hard Maserati enthusiasts, it is hardly common knowledge that the Trident produced motorcycles during the post-war period. There was some small amount of historical justification for this path, as company founder Carlo Maserati had begun his engineering career by building single-cylinder engines for bicycles.

Decades later, the Adolfo Orsi-owned Maserati observed with interest as a burgeoning market in post-war Italy emerged for inexpensive and simple transportation. Eager to capitalize on this trend, Maserati explored the motorcycle business through one of its subsidiaries, the Società Anonima Fabbrica Candele Accumulatori Maserati, which had been founded by Alfieri Maserati as a spark plug business at the end of World War I. Due to the prohibitive cost of starting a motorcycle concern from scratch, the Maserati division sought to acquire a pre-existing manufacturer, and in 1953 the company purchased Italmoto, a small but well-respected motorcycle builder based in Bologna.

While Fabbrica Candele Accumulatori Maserati initially continued with the designs that were already being built by Italmoto, it soon established a dedicated department for the design of new products. One of the company’s first designs was based on a DKW motorcycle, to be powered by a 123-cubic-centimeter two-stroke single-cylinder engine. The resulting Tipo L/125/T2 entered production in 1954, and it was soon developed into the Turismo Lusso variant, which was obviously intended for luxury touring applications.

According to the consignor, this extremely rare 125/T2 Turismo Lusso was acquired in the 1960s by Giuseppe Candini, one of Italy’s foremost Maserati restoration specialists. Mr. Candini refurbished the unique motorcycle and put in on display in his workshop, where it was spotted and quickly acquired by the current owner in February 2017. Benefitting from fastidious care in the consignor’s extensive collection of Italian speed machines, this Maserati motorcycle is well prepared for riding enjoyment. It would make a splendid addition to any Trident-focused collection or assemblage of post-war European motorcycles, exemplifying Modena’s brief but beautiful foray into two-wheeled transportation.