In the world of vintage racing bikes, this Masi is the the Holy Grail. Vintage Velos now owns the oldest and rarest Masi that we know of. It also has some of the rarest parts ever seen. An original Cinelli stem stamped 'Firenze', before they moved to Milano!. By far the best preserved Masi for its age. The acquisition of this jewel was exciting and nerve-wracking all at once.

The bike was built by Faliero Masi soon after he opened his shop at Vigorelli Velodrome in Milano. The original owner, who was a elite amateur racer at the time, acquired it in February of 1954. On that day, Fausto Coppi was visiting the Masi shop. Upon seeing the bicycle being wheeled out, he remarked, "Hey! That is my size(59 c/c)!" and quickly sat on it while admiring the interesting orange color and setup. Mr. Brambilla (Mr. B), the new owner, was thrilled to meet a champion in such a setting. Coppi was at Masi's because in 1954, Faliero Masi built his bikes (with the Bianchi name on them). Coppi invited Mr. B to a group ride they had the following weekend. He has a photo from this ride, with him riding his new orange Masi alongside Fausto Coppi!

This was Mr. B's second Masi. He had sold the first one (it was black and gold) that he had purchased in 1951, in order to get the new orange Masi. I was fortunate to see photos of the first one as well. Mr. B was a devoted fan of Masi's work and had known him for several years when Masi was a little-known artisan frame builder. He told us about the early Masi shop locations in Milano before he moved to Vigorelli in late 1953. The first one was on Michelino da Besozzo(1949-52). Then he moved to Via Felice Casati. He worked out of that shop for only three months. Mr. B described the shop as a 'closet' and due to its cramped space Masi looked for a new location. Finally, in 1953 he moved into the Vigorelli Velodrome. Once there he moved yet again to a larger area on the opposite side where the shop still stands today.

Through a friend I heard of this old 1954 Masi, so of course I was excited but also leery for I had heard of great bikes before only to be sorely disappointed. When I first saw the bike I looked it over and asked with a bit of insecurity, ' is this a Faliero Masi bike?' But then I realized, like 99% of the vintage collectors in the world, I had never seen such an extremely vintage Mace in the first place. Like a fool, I was expecting the same decals and layout as more common Masi Specials from the 1960s-70s. The more I studied it the more it sank in that this was the ultimate Masi, the grandfather of the Masi 'SPECIAL'. This was the original edition made early in Faliero's career when he used ''Speciale Corsa' decals! He also used a little head and seat tube badges. Masi later dropped the 'e' on 'Speciale' for international 'marketing' purposes in the 1960s.

Seeing for the first time the Fleur di Firenze on the small Masi badge, the pointed lugs, the exquisite file work, the drilled brake levers, drilled bottle cage, the unbelievable rare Cinelli 'Firenze' stem, and the rare first edition Campagnolo Gran Sport derailleurs, the one thing that stood out on top of all that was the mint condition. I asked Mr. B how he kept it so perfect for so long and he told me he used to clean it after each ride, oil the parts, coat it in lubricant and cover it. What you see is the way it looked after the last bike ride he made on it in the late 1950's. This was truly gold and a once-in-a-lifetime find.

Besides the bike, Mr B. was a wealth of knowledge on the golden days of cycling. The man was world-class, still lean and tall. We met another three times over a period of two weeks and had long discussions about all things cycling. I was extremely luck to acquire this bike for several important Italian bicycle museums had been wanting this for some years. Even Masi wanted the bike!

I hope to meet up with Mr. B in the spring and get some nice photos of him and the bike, and perhaps go for a ride on this rare Masi around Lake Como with him. It will be like the 1950s all over again.

Hope you enjoy the photos. They speak for themselves. Laced with history and rareness. Click on them to expand to large photos. If you have questions email me(click below on CONTACT US). More to come.