Originally Posted by martl

you flatter me Its just that sometimes in the 80is my dad gave me his old 1951 Girardengo with the same feature, and as i used it as a daily rider for some time. Common "long reach" racing brakes would fit in the front, but not in the rear. Finding a decent "very long" brake was impossible.
Later i learned that feature was quite common in the 50ies and 60ies, for using wider tires and fenders. The Universal brakes you have there on the bike actually came as a pair, and because of all that i'm guessing they came with the bike.
Definitely no one built racers with the longer rear brake any more in the 70ies. That bike is older

M.