RETROSPECTIVE Parilla 175 Sport 1955.(motorcycle)(Brief Article)

Publication: Rider

Publication Date: 01-AUG-01

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COPYRIGHT 2001 Ehlert Publishing Group

This little gem could well have been called Italy's "Boy Racer" of the mid-1950s. It was inexpensive, fast, and lots of local and national competitions had a 175 class. The nation's most prestigious road-race, as in racing on public roads, was the 2,000-mile Giro d'Italia (One Lap of Italy), and that was limited to 175cc max. If Pietro or Luigi wanted to go race, and impress the girls, this was the economical way to do it.

The Parrilla family had migrated from southern Calabria to northern Italy between the world wars, and had a successful business within the diesel engine industry. But son Giovanni loved motorcycles, and since the family fortunes had survived Mussolini and the Allied bombings, he began building bikes in 1946. But his first machine--a sophisticated bevel-driven OHC 250 single with both front and rear suspension--was not very...

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