Today in motorcycle history, February 12, 1945

  MV Agusta, originally Meccanica Verghera Agusta, is founded on February 12, 1945 in Cascina Costa, Italy.  Simultaneously, tears of joy swelled in the eyes of every Italian 2-wheeled racing fan.

  The company began as an off-shoot of the Agusta aviation company formed by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923.  The Count died in 1927, leaving the company in the able hands of his wife and sons, Domenico, Vincenzo, Mario and Corrado.  Count Vincenzo Agusta together with his brother Domenico formed MV Agusta (named for the hamlet, Meccanica Verghera) at the end of WW II as a means to save the jobs of employees of the Agusta firm and also to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation. 

1954 MV Agusta CSTL 175 Turismo Lusso

 

 

  Count Vincenzo and Domenico Agusta also had a burning passion for mechanical workings and for motorcycle racing.  They, too, were determined to have the best Grand Prix motorcycle racing team in the world and decided to spare no expense on their passion.

  The company began by manufacturing small-displacement, Café racer style motorcycles (mostly 125 to 175 cc) through the 1950s and 1960s.  Then in the 1960s small motorcycle sales declined, and MV started producing larger displacement cycles in more limited quantities.  A 250 cc, and later a 350 cc twin were produced, and then a 600 cc four-cylinder which eventually evolved into a 750 cc.

  MV Augusta started a domination in all every GP class in 1956.  They won the 125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc class simultaneously in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960.  The manufacturer won 270 Grand Prix races, with legendary riders such as Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read, Carlo Ubbiali, Gary Hocking and John Surtees.

  Yes, I said 270 Grand Prix races. Two-hundred and seventy.

  "Racing experience at the service of mass production."