1971 Ducati 350 Desmo. Story by Paul d’Orleans. Photos by TED7.

Like a glitter blast from a time-warp disco cannon, the ?Silver Shotgun? exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum celebrates the amazing period of the 1960s and 1970s in Italian design, with a unique selection of motorcycles, cars and art objects. The exhibit?s name refers to the paint scheme of the 1971 Ducati 350 Desmo, a factory café racer with enormous chunks of silver metal flake embedded into its fiberglass gelcoat, that proved to be the herald of a new era. ?Silver Shotgun? explores the relationship between cutting-edge Italian motorcycles, their connection to automotive design and an avant-garde artistic thread that made Italian industrial design explode with color, energy and competitive vigor. 
The Italian motorcycle industry, much like its automotive industry, has long been characterized by elegance in design balanced against obsession with racing. Those trends reached a pinnacle in the 1970s for Italian motorcycles, which led the world in styling, performance and top speed, with more masterpieces produced by more factories within that decade than any other. Ducati, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta, Laverda, Bimota and Benelli made breathtakingly gorgeous motorcycles that were the fastest and best handling in the world.

1974 Ducati 750 SS Imola.1977 MV Agusta 750 S America.

1973 MV Agusta 750 Sport.

An unlikely trajectory led Italy to lead the world in design, as the country arrived ...