Ducati 750SS NCR

The Ducati 750SS NCR is a re-creation of one of the series of racers built by the legendary NCR race shop in Italy. 'NCR' stood for the names of its founders, ex-factory race mechanics Giorgio Nepoti, Rino Caracchi and Luigi Rizzi, although after Rizzi's early departure the 'R' stood for Racing. NCR was founded in 1967 in the small town of Borgo Panigale on the outskirts of Ducati's hometown of Bologna. Situated a stone's throw from the Ducati factory, NCR functioned as the semi-official race team from the early 1970s, there being no direct works involvement at that time. The Nepoti/Caracchi philosophy was that everything could be improved, lightened or made more powerful, and like all truly great tuners they paid attention to the smallest detail in the knowledge that racing would inevitably expose any weaknesses. Their emblem, a speeding cartoon dog wearing a helmet, is known the world over.

NCR is perhaps best known for supplying the Ducati ridden by Mike Hailwood on his comeback ride at the Isle of Man TT in 1978. Out of top-flight bike racing for seven years and away from the Island for eleven, he took on and beat the might of the Honda works team to win the Formula One TT at record speed. Entered by Steve Wynne's Manchester-based Ducati dealership, Sports Motorcycles, Hailwood's TT-winner was one of a small batch of around 25 such machines built by NCR for TT Formula One and FIM Coupe d'Endurance racing. The NCR bikes supplied to Sports Motorcycles for Hailwood and his team-mate Roger Nicholls incorporated Daspa-built frames and 864cc desmodromic engines that retained the smoothly contoured outer casings of the earlier 750 series. (The production 860 and 750 models had used angular 'square' cases since their introduction in 1975). Although the Hailwood TT win is the NCR's most famous achievement, there were other notable victories at Mugello, Montjuic, and Misano in the FIM Endurance Championship.