page_title: Mondial (motorcycle manufacturer)
section_title: Post-war era (1948–1979)
hierarchical_section_title: Mondial (motorcycle manufacturer) / Post-war era (1948–1979)
caption_attribution_description: An old FB-Mondial motorcycle Picture&#160;: Gérard Delafond
context_page_description: FB Mondial is a motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1929, in Milan, Italy. They are best known for their domination of Motorcycle World Championships between 1949 and 1957. The firm produced some of the most advanced and successful Grand Prix road racers of the time, winning five rider and five manufacturer World Championships in that short period.
context_section_description: The collaboration between the Drusiani family and the Boselli family continued at the end of the war period, with the reconstruction of the building, thanks to the enormous economic resources of Boselli, who took over full control of the company. FB effectively relaunched in 1948 as FB Mondial. Mondial found early racing success, winning their first of what would become five World Championships in only their second year of production. During a time when MV Agusta and Ducati produced economy lightweight two-stroke motorcycles, mopeds and scooters, Mondial was more of a "boutique" manufacturer, specializing in high-performance, small-displacement motorcycles.  Much of the production of each motorcycle was done by hand, which kept output low, with production numbers typically ranging between 1,000 and 2,000 units per year. Mondial were able to continue this success for a number of years, sticking with this methodology. In 1957, Soichiro Honda approached Mondial owner Count Boselli for purchase of a Mondial racebike, with which the firm had just won the 125 cc and 250 cc world titles. Count Boselli gave Mr. Honda a racing Mondial; Honda used this bike as a standard to which he aspired, in order to compete on a world-scale. An original Mondial 125 cc racebike is, still now, the first bike on display when entering Honda's Motegi Collection Hall.
  After the 1957 Grand Prix season, many major Italian motorcycle manufacturers including Gilera, Moto Guzzi, and MV Agusta announced that they would pull out of Grand Prix competition citing increasing costs and diminishing sales (MV Agusta later reconsidered and continued racing). Mondial, despite their continued success, decide to join them. This marked the beginning of a decline in popularity and sales for the Italian company, and in 1960, the last all-Mondial motorcycle left the factory.  After this, Mondial continued for a while, purchasing engines from proprietary makers.  In this hybrid form, motorcycles with Mondial frames and ancillary parts, but non-Mondial engines, were produced by the factory for the next 19 years. However, Mondial stopped production in their entirety in 1979, until their rebirth nearly twenty years later.
caption: 1964 50cc Mondial Super Sportiva
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