Ironman, I haven't spoken Italian in a number of years (except with my brother-in-law who is Italian) and so have enjoyed searching Italian sites for info on Luigi Franchi. There just isn't much there. Two Italian legendary cycle champions from the 30-50's Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi (many Tour de France and Giro d'Italia victories) owned Franchi's. But the company is now owned by Beretta. Beretta must still have the records. Why not write them a letter and ask? We'd all be interested in the response. In the meantime I'll write to brother-in-law who is from Northern Italy (but not that area) and ask what he can turn up. (Interesting, I went up to Brescia about 18 years ago to see a man about a horse...)
Last Paragraph translated: "Gino Bartali and his SxS Franchi Imperial Montecarlo model was the protagaist in the play titled "The pathos of a great man and his mythical Italian hunting gun."
