If you live outside Italy, you may not have heard of FB Mondial. But the marque is familiar to Europeans of a certain age, because it dominated the Grand Prix scene in the 1950s?and collected multiple world championships in the 125 and 250 classes.
It?s over ten years since we last featured a Mondial, so this exquisite restomod from Bill Becker of BeckerBuilt is a welcome arrival. Bill is a retired architect based in Philadelphia, and his builds are characterized by thoughtful, methodical craftsmanship.

Bill?s latest project builds upon the stock features of the well-designed little Mondial, and adds just enough customization to make it a classic beauty. It started life as a 175cc Sprint model from 1960, with red and gold paint, and evolved into a cafe racer?inspired by the racing models produced by the Mondial founders, the Boselli brothers. ?The previous owner of the Mondial was an ex-racer and accumulator of motorcycles,? Bill tells us. ?In a moment of sanity that we collectors occasionally experience, he sensed that it was time to ?thin the herd??he would never be able to complete all the projects that he had acquired over the years. I seized the opportunity.?

For Bill, the prospect of working on such a rare bike was compelling. ?I had only read about Mondial motorcycles, and never seen an actual model. This bike, in stock form, was a very attractive example of the cafe racer design so desirable in the 1960s.?
The chassis appeared to be complete. All the beautif...