Marino Bonvicini

For my own record:

This bicycle restoration is virtually complete, trying to save as much of the original paint as was feasible. Yeah, "it is only original once" but after looking at that paint gouge for a couple years, I felt it deserved more. The next owner (when I die) will just have to suffer.

The Lucotti Cup

km 160

was won by

Marino Bonvicini

on his reliable 

Ganna

bicycle equipped with

Pirelli
(tires)

Marino (aka Mario) Bonvicini

(b. Granarolo del'Emilia in 1903 - d. Bologna 1986) was a successful motorcycle and bicycle racer in from 1926 into the 1930s. On motorcycles he won the Astico-Brenta and the Tre Valli Varesine in 1926. The following year he competed in the Giro d'Italia, on a team with Alfredo Binda, Albino Binda, and Tullio Campagnolo, gaining a first in the second stage, and was also tenth in the Giro del Veneto. Soon after, Bonvicini quit racing bicycles to concentrate on motorcycles which was more lucrative. In 1952 he began manufacturing motorcycles (BM Bonvicini) and continued that until his death in 1982.

Now the bicycle:
It has been confirmed that this frame was built by Francesco Galmozzi in about 1949 or 1950. When Galmozzi was with Gloria, he built the bicycle that Libero Ferrario rode to the 1923 World Championships. After that Galmozzi seemed to favor World stripes and used them on his frames whenever he could. In 1961 Francesco's son Angelo built the 'Flandria' labeled bicycle that Rik Van Looy rode to the 1961 World Championship. Both father and so are considered part of that small club of masters.

The bicycle:
First, the gouge and degraded decals that triggered the project.

Generally decals tend to flake off. These merged into the paint which complicated the project. We could not merely touch up the gouge and apply decals. At first I assumed the lettering had been silver, but under strong magnification there was flecks of red and we realized they had been red and gold with the shield matching the colors of the headtube badge.

These are the craftsman who did the heavy lifting on the restoration:

• Gustavo Salmon did the graphics from my measurements, photos, and a graphite rubbing of the headbadge and made the first sets of decals.
• Jeff Bock matched and repainted only the portions of the blue panel where the old decals had been and applied new decals. He also mixed a match for the green to painted the repop fenders and the original pump. He quipped that because over time the green had fade to a number of tones he was matching to an average. He also turned the pump top cap to replace the original wooden plug which had split over time.
• John Parker did the fender pinstriping.

End of story,
 Gunnar