Never one to forget a historical achivement, it seems that Ducati has commissioned a 30th anniversary edition of Cook Neilson’s famed ‘Old Blue’ from NCR and dubbed it ‘New Blue’. After taking delivery of a standard Ducati SportClassic Sport 1000S, NCR tuned the new bike by removing eighty-four pounds and adding an additional 30 horsepower, which is a not so shabby way to making it go a heck of lot faster…

More after the fold…

From the Ducati North America Press Release:

Ducati North America and NCR announce today the unveiling of special new project bike called “New Blue”. This motorcycle is a modern replica of the historic Ducati 750SS campaigned by Cook Neilson and Phil Schilling throughout the mid 1970’s.

Cook Neilson, the editor of Cycle magazine at the time, possessed a unique combination of skills - those of a successful journalist and those of a successful racer. With the help of Managing Editor and ace mechanic Phil Schilling, they were able to build the 750SS into a remarkably successful race bike. This was achieved by trial and error, superior tuning talent and riding skills.

Phil soon gave their motorcycle the nickname “Old Blue”, in reference to the team’s attractive livery. On March 11th 1977, at the legendary Daytona Speedway, the team celebrated a monumental victory in the AMA Superbike race. This win stands out as a significant event in the history books as it was the first victory for Ducati at Daytona.

If you’re interested, you can read more about it here.