Specifications: 436 cc SOHC Desmo single, five speeds.

The wide-case 450-cc Desmo single was the fastest production Ducati one could buy, before the development of the V-twin 750 Sport, and original racing examples with history are highly sought after. Though built as a hill climb racer in 1990, the bike on offer is based on a 1972 example and is said to have been ridden by Marcello Peruzzi, who won the Italian Historic Hillclimb challenge in 1995, and is understood to have been a competitive machine.

The engine has twin spark plugs, a single Dell’Orto PHM 40-mm carburettor, twin Bitubo rear shock absorbers and Marzocchi forks. The wheel rims are alloy, and the five-speed gear shift is mounted on the left. The bike carries a Veglia competition tachometer and double brake vents at the front. The bike appears to have been well built and is presented in the condition in which it last raced, with slight damage to the fairing.