V700s manufactured in 1975/1976

Moto Guzzi V700, V7 Special, Ambassador, 850 GT, 850 GT California, Eldorado, and 850 California Police models

Created: 2008 November 12

Updated: 2024 January 24

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Thanks to Tom Short and Moe Moore from Cycle Garden and Lieven Loots for sending me this information in a private e-mail.

Tom short:

Per our discussion at John's [80^th birthday party], here are my pics of a 1975 V700 I took in Germany.

The story I got from the owner was, 200 were built for export to the Argentinean Police. They refused them because the new 850 T was out, and they wanted those instead. An Italian Guzzi shop purchased all the bikes from Guzzi, stripped them down and painted them orange. You can see in the pics that the block is ribbed like an 850, but I cannot tell and don't remember if it has a 4 LS front brake.

Moe Moore from Cycle Garden:

Those are just like the ones I saw in Holland, dated 1976, they where white and had the Euro buddy seat on them.

Lieven Loots:

I just read the information on late V7 700's on This Old Tractor. Here's a link where you can find more information on them: The History of the Creole (V7 700 2nd 1975 series / 1976)

Here is the Google translation of the original article written in Italian:

The History of the Creoles (V7 700 2nd series
Date: 1975 - 1976
) - Research by Franco R. and Davide M.

From its origins, the V7 was a motorcycle highly appreciated and requested by Italian and foreign public administrations, for which it was expressly designed and created. The demand was fairly constant throughout the decade 1966 - 1976; however, due to the oil crisis and the technical evolution of both the other manufacturers and Moto Guzzi itself (1), various batches of V7, already in production for public bodies, in the years 1974 - 1975, were canceled in favor of the new ones models.

The motorcycles that were not collected were disassembled and repainted in a particular color, the so-called Benelli red (2), to be offered on the private market, at an attractive price.

Once the conversion of the ex PA V7s in Guzzi was completed, it was then realized that, in the warehouse, there were surplus components and spare parts, such as to allow the production of other examples of red V7s: therefore the offer continued, still at good prices and at the request of customers and dealers, throughout 1976 and beyond (some publications speak of the last examples completed in 1977).

Of this version of the 700, very similar in terms of equipment and insignia to the one supplied to the Traffic Police, a few hundred examples had to leave Guzzi's gates in the two-year period 1975 - 1976 (1977); intended mainly for the private public and at a price, as already mentioned, very attractive (had to because the data in possession of Moto Guzzi itself are incomplete and the various sources, in this regard, conflicting; it also seems - which is not certain and remains to be proven - that Moto Guzzi, to optimize the archiving and annotation of orders, made leaps in the numbering of the frames: this doubt, after many years, does not allow us to know, with good certainty, the exact numbers of the specimens produced per model).

The hybrid V7s (or also called Creoles, or 700 Rosse ) had typical characteristics of both the first 700 and the more recent 850 GT.

Characteristics of the V7 700 were:

the 703 engine .7 cc (but with a ribbed crankcase, less subject to breakage);

the 4-speed gearbox, with smooth crankcase (without the reinforcing ribs introduced with the 5-speed gearbox of the 850 GT);

the dashboard of the first type, with the km counter only, very similar to the one fitted to most versions of the Fiat 500;

the external appearance (apart from the colour);

the single-seater seat with rear springs of the Public Administrations and, sometimes, mounted on the rear mudguard, the luggage rack with the rectangular cushion seat for the passenger, traditional Guzzi;

often, front engine protection bars with holes prepared for the winter leg protectors and sirens, accessories never mounted on the examples produced for the civilian market.

Characteristics of the 850 GT they were:

the 4-shoe front brake

the engine crankcase with reinforcing ribs

the rear bevel gear pair, with the larger box and the typical lower cup which allowed the quantity of oil in the final transmission to be increased.

The tank, with chromed cheeks, could be either the typical more square 20 liter tank or the more rounded 22 liter tank; the color was most frequently red (but there are many exceptions).

The graphics were characteristic: silk-screened, of the V7 special type, but in white; V7 700cc written in white on the side panels, white bands on the side panels and side cases; double white fillets on the fenders and on the upper face of the tank; again, on the sides of the tank, the writing Moto Guzzi between white lines and a white eagle, or even, but only on request, the typical white, curled lines around the cheeks and the writing Moto Guzzi; livery very similar to the Stradale specimens.

Finally, it must be said that the end customer, through his Guzzi dealer, without prejudice to the basic setting, could decide to make changes to the aesthetics of the motorbike booked. This explains the presence, on many Creoles , of variants that have existed since the origin: for example the presence of the dome (PA type); side bags (V7 type or California type); black in color and chrome mudguards; of the bull horn handlebars fitted to the 850 GT California and US export bikes; of the classic long two-seater saddle or the military single-seater saddle.

At Moto Guzzi, the imminent launch of the 850 T series finally proposed the adoption of disc brakes, first on the front wheel (T series) and then also on the rear wheel together with integral braking (T3 series); furthermore, chassis improved by the new V7 sport-derived chassis, alternator on the crankshaft instead of the belt-driven dynamo, etc.

At the time, Guzzi and Benelli belonged to a single owner - De Tomaso - and there was a surplus of red in stock at Benelli, which was also used in Guzzi, for the red V7s and later, also for the 850 Le Mans and other productions.

*** Any further news and information on the Creoles will be very welcome to update these notes.

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