Arthur Wheeler Moto Guzzi 250 Gambalunghino
Above, as bought from Murrays Museum on the Isle of Man. Below, Feb 2011 after restoration.
Originally Arthur Wheelers "Dustbin & Dolphin Fairing" bike of the mid 1950's, this bike retains the original Albatros/Gambalughino front section of frame, where Arthur's front fairing bracket can clearly be seen. He had a great many successes on this machine. Arthur Wheeler sold the bike in "fairly standard Gambalunghino spec" to Trevor Barnes in late 1959. Barnes won several races on it and fitted a Norton front brake. The bike was sold in late 1963 to Arthur Lawn. The rear frame section was Arthur Wheelers original prototype made by Ken Sprayson of Reynolds Tubes in 1958. This was later fitted to the bike in 1964, by Arthur Lawn, who bought it from Arthur Wheeler.
The bike had sat a great many years in Murrays Museum on the Isle of Man, in a poor state of repair. It is now being restored to an excellent condition ready to ride and display.
As can be seen this bike has the fairing bracket for the "dolphin fairing" that shows that this is the machine (or at least, the frame!) that Arthur won the 1954 250 Italian GP on. Although he didn't keep any record of the frame number used.
Here are some major race results obtained by Wheeler during the period he owned this bike (and strongly believed) to have been obtained on this bike
Arthur Wheeler used this bike up until he decided to switch to NSU Sportmax and then Mondial's, as the Guzzi's had ceased production and development. He had previously obtained/been given Enrico Lorenzetti's stock of parts to keep him going, but the Guzzi's were being surpassed by the other newer machines. These bikes didn't work for Wheeler and he never had the sucesses he had on the Guzzi, so in 1958 he decided to revert back to his old Guzzi's. He dug out his old machine and again began to win races again, although they needed work to get them performing. This led to the development of the "Reynolds frame" designed by Arthur (on the back of an envelope!) and constructed by Ken Sprayson. The rear section of the frame now on this bike was the 1st one made "WR1", and was originally fitted to an oil bearing large diameter top tube type frame section, which was retained on Arthurs "new bike", the old one (ie. this "original framed" 1950's bike) was previously sold to Trevor Barnes.
Arthur last used this engine at Blandford in 1958, which he won and noted in his race journal "a strong engine". Pictured below is the bike reunited with Arthur's Son and Grandsons, who have taken a keen interest in the bike and have been able to help confirm the identity of this machine.
