Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: cliffrod on September 09, 2023, 08:14:46 PM
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Got to ask the WG audience for opinions. I found this supposed piece of an old Moto Guzzi packing crate online this afternoon. Arrangements have been made for purchase & having a local friend pick it up for me tomorrow. I haven’t been able to find anything online about it suggesting it is a souvenir or repro type item. Almost seems like I have seen it or one like it (bigger) before but may be mistaken or may have been a different item. Whatever it is or isn’t, it will look good hanging in the shop.
Seller had no history on it, other than he bought it at a bike swap meet in Cincinnati 2yrs ago. Boards are brighter on ends like they were sawed, possibly to remove this section from a full crate side. Another friend said he remembered Guzzi crates of 70’s-80’s being paneled with thin plywood, not boards like this piece.
(https://i.ibb.co/dc8V5sT/IMG-0969.png) (https://ibb.co/dc8V5sT)
Opinions?
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All I have seen is a corrugated crate back into the 70's. Could be for motor or parts.
A friend of mine, an old dealer is using old Norton crates on his shop floor to work on for oil drip & whatever . I told him what they go for, he don't care.
Edt: I never saw any singles crates, they are narrow w/o bars.
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Well, you could always get the wood and ink analyzed. Find out the potential origins and time period.
Pretty standard stencil.
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Original or fabricated... still a cool piece to hang in the garage.
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Lettering looks neatly lined up with the gaps between the wood panels. Makes me suspicious. I bet Curtis Harper would know!
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How likely is it that a genuine stenciled crate would say "Made in Italy" in English only?
Maybe another panel would have had the Italian?
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How likely is it that a genuine stenciled crate would say "Made in Italy" in English only?
Maybe another panel would have had the Italian?
If it’s coming to the USA market, I would expect declaration of origin markings to be in English somewhere on the container..
This wooden crate was stamped “PACKED IN ITALY”. No idea what the crate originally contained but do know it was in the basement of our old house in VT for at least 35-40 yrs before cleaned out to sell around 2015-16. I haven’t hung it up yet.
(https://i.ibb.co/gVvpTp2/IMG-0984.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gVvpTp2)
(https://i.ibb.co/n0f1wC4/IMG-0985.jpg) (https://ibb.co/n0f1wC4)
I also have this known late 90’s-early 2000’s Ducati crate panel. On the lower right corner, it’s marked “Made In Italy”
(https://i.ibb.co/NVKqqnT/IMG-0986.jpg) (https://ibb.co/NVKqqnT)
According to the interweb, this Moto Guzzi logo & font is pre 1957/58. It looks more like a single ink stamping through stencil (not a smaller stamp doing 1-2 letters at a time) vs a painted stencil. That’s how a stencil can be repeatedly used without quickly becoming a sloppy, illegible mess from paint drips and overspray.. It may still be a fake, but seems like a lot more effort to do a big ink stamp over a stencil for something that only sold for cheap$$. Don’t believe the guy I got it from (for $30) lost any money, so not a lot of room for big profit to justify much effort.
Who knows? It looks cool, whatever it is or isn’t. We’re still making shipping arrangements on this Guzzi thing. I like old stuff that wasn’t meant to be saved or collected. It’s usually a lot less glamorous, consistent and precise than people imagine.
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Just got my Moto a Guzzi crate. Looks like it was an end of whatever crate it was, with nail holes on both sides, top and bottom. Maybe it will be better authenticated someday. Maybe not. Until then, it will look good in the shop.
(https://i.ibb.co/02xBLgZ/IMG-1033.jpg) (https://ibb.co/02xBLgZ)