On 15 March 1921, the Moto Guzzi company was founded in Genoa. The partners in the company were the renowned ship owner Emanuele Vittorio Parodi, his son Giorgio and his friend Carlo Guzzi. Carlo Guzzi was a former comrade of Giorgio Parodi in the Italian Air Corp. A mutual friend, Giovanni Ravelli, died on a test flight in 1919 and in his memory the wide winged eagle became the logo of the Moto Guzzi brand.

The company's first motorcycle was the legendary 8 HP Normale. This was followed by the Guzzi G.T. dubbed "Norge" (1928) and the Airone 250 (1939). During this period of time Moto Guzzi also became a racing success winning the prestigious Targa Florio in 1921, which marked the beginning of an impressive succession of victories. Moto Guzzi during this time also won an astonishing 14 World GP Championships and 11 Tourist Trophies.

In 1950 Moto Guzzi became the first motorcycle manufacturer in the world to install a state of the art wind tunnel at Mandello del Lario factory. After World War Two, Moto Guzzi created the Guzzino 65 ("Cardellino"), followed by the legendary Galletto (1950) and the Lodola 175 (1956). At the end of the 1960s Moto Guzzi presented the famous Moto Guzzi 90° V-twin engine. This engine was used as the basis of the V7, V7 Special, V7 Sport and was also used in smaller and larger capacity motorcycles being the V35, V50 and of course the California which also boasted electronic injection and a triple-disc brake system. In order to keep the sports heritage alive, Moto Guzzi also created the Le Mans, Daytona, Centauro and Sport 1100.

In December 2004 Moto Guzzi became a part of the Piaggio Group. March 2005 saw the release of the Breva 1100, the first model release under the Piaggio banner, it was a completely new offering for the naked segment. September 2005 saw the launch of the unique Griso 1100. 2006 marked Moto Guzzi's return to the Gran Turismo segment with the Norge. That same year Moto Guzzi went back to the race track to win the Battle of the Twins at the Daytona circuit, in 2007 they repeated the performance taking victory again. Inspired by these two victories Moto Guzzi created the 1200 Sport.

Moto Guzzi then went on to present the new 8V engine featuring 4V per cylinder which produced over 110hp, this was initially released in the Griso 8V. Next up was the Bellagio, a custom powered 940cc motorcycle. EICMA 2007 saw the presentation of the new adventure Moto Guzzi motorcycle the Stelvio along with the legendary V7 Classic.

In late 2009 the Piaggio Group also announced a significant investment programme, which involved not only the development of the Moto Guzzi product range but also an upgrade to the Mandello del Lario production facility. The 90th anniversary of Moto Guzzi in 2011 was marked with the all new Moto Guzzi California, powered by an all new 1400cc transverse 90° V-twin, this motorcycle celebrates the legendary history of the model in a new state of the art design. 2012 saw the introduction of the V7 range combining Moto Guzzi's tradition and styling mixed with modern technology and exquisite craftsmanship.

The Moto Guzzi brand captures the attention of riders throughout the world, standing apart from the competition with their expertise, style and quality. After it's long and successful history Moto Guzzi is the aristocrat of the motorcycle world.