  The transversity form factors of the pion, involving matrix elements of
bilocal tensor currents, are evaluated in chiral quark models, both in the
local Nambu--Jona-Lasinio with the Pauli-Villars regularization, as well as in
nonlocal models involving momentum-dependent quark mass. After suitable QCD
evolution the agreement with recent lattice calculations is very good, in
accordance to the fact that the spontaneously broken chiral symmetry governs
the dynamics of the pion. Meson dominance of form factors with expected meson
masses also works properly, conforming to the parton-hadron duality in the
considered process.
