If there is a design house that typifies the style of the 1970s and 1980s automotive and motorcycle landscape, it’s got to be Italdesign, right? I mean, Giugiaro developed some of the most evocative design language of the era. For sure, the Italdesigned original Ducati 860 GT was a stunning bike, probably way too far ahead of its time. It looked modern for years to come. Taking advantage of a throwback design renaissance, Italdesign took it upon itself to pen an 860 GT redux, but this time powered by electricity. Cool!
This wasn’t commissioned by Ducati. As a matter of fact, last time I asked a Ducati representative about electric propulsion they looked like they were going to spit. This is simply an effort by Italdesign to explore its own past and bring those designs into the future with an eye toward the current day motorcycle market. Obviously I like electric bikes, and I would love to see this 860-E concept brought to life, but even if that can’t ever happen, I’m happy to see this type of hard-edge design language is returning to the fore.
Here’s what Italdesign had to say about the 860-E:
Do you remember the #Ducati860 we had the chance to design back in the 70s? It was so futuristic it was probably way too ahead of its time. That’s why today, almost 50 years later, we asked our designers to re-imagine this model. The Ducati 860-E Concept keeps some of the iconic lines of the original one, like the tank hull continuing under the saddle, projected into the next future. Fully electric and quiet, with a mind-blowing design.
I would personally love to see Ducati build this bike as an electric upright naked in the vein of a smaller, sportier, and more compact LiveWire One. It’s such a cool look, and has such an iconic silhouette, that I think it could actually be a decent seller if the price was right. Stack this in the lineup between the Scrambler and Monster, priced around 15 grand, and it’ll be killer. Let’s say 70 horsepower? Yeah, I’d buy that.