At this time it was painted blue and yellow but the silver paint was visible in places. It was made for the Australian market which is where our vendor found it when he was working at the Caiguna Roadhouse in Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia, a huge flat plain, in 1981.

The example offered is from the preferred early production in silver, made in 1971-72. The swept-back exhaust finishes in a Silentium silencer with a chopped-off tail.The final version of the 450 Desmo appeared in 1974, now yellow in colour and with Ceriani forks and a disc front brake. Rear shock absorbers were also Marzocchi, with unusual full-length springs with a wire loop pre-load adjuster.

Front forks were 35 mm Marzocchi, with a white-faced Veglia tachometer (red-lined at 8,500) mounted on top of the steering head. The styling was a café racer’s dream, with rear set footrests, a racing style hump-back seat, clip-on handlebars, Borrani 18-inch alloy rims and snazzy Grimeca double-sided single leading shoe front brake. The new Desmo 450 featured a slightly garish silver metalflake paint scheme for the fibreglass fuel tank, front mudguard and side covers, leading to the nickname ‘Silver Shotgun’, which has stuck in more recent times. The all-new 450 Desmo, made its European debut in 1968, and soon after, regular production of the desmodromic engines in 250, 350 and 450 form commenced. The Apollo project soaked up an enormous amount of Ducati’s capital and development resources, but an even bigger blow was when Berliner cancelled an order for 3,500 motorcycles in early 1967, which were ready for dispatch from Bologna. It was at the behest of the Berliner brothers that the 1200 cc V-4 Ducati Apollo was conceived, two examples being constructed before the pin was unceremoniously pulled.

Engine number DM450, 457710.A major factor in Ducati’s destiny had been the US Berliner Corporation, importers of the brand since 1959 and dictators to a large extent on company policy. 972 Ducati Mk 3 450 Desmo Silver Shotgun, 435cc.

Graph art desmos horse shoe