By Ray Thursby » It was Count Domenico Agusta’s obsessive policy to keep the secrets of his racing machines well hidden; many bikes suffered the ignominy of destruction, while others were interred beneath his airstrip’s runway. Some escaped the fate that befell their brethren, however, and three prime examples of MV Agusta’s output now enjoy an honorable retirement in the Southern California collection of former racer Jeff Elghanayan. Treated to sensitive restorations under the aegis of Todd Millar (see “Sleeping Beauties,” Summer 2005, page 103), they are exercised on racetracks as often as their owner’s schedule allows.
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And there were other similarities. They quickly established reputations in post–World War II Italy, and ran companies that operated in financial uncertainty with the ebb and flow of demand. It is a near-certainty that neither name would exist today had not better-financed companies stepped in to offer security. But the preeminent attribute uniting Agusta’s motorcycles and Ferrari’s automobiles is their collectibility. Surviving examples—particularly those with a competition pedigree—are prized by enthusiasts and occupy pride of place in the world’s most important collections.
In 1945, Count Agusta founded MV Agusta within what remained of his late father’s aircraft factory near Milan in Cascina Costa. War and economic ruin had left the Agusta family’s enterprise in shambles, and Agusta decided that salvation lay in providing inexpensive transport for the people of his now-defeated nation. Even before the war’s end, Agusta had realized that economic limitations and the restricted availability of raw materials would place automobiles beyond the reach of most Italians. He accordingly began development on a 98cc engine capable of propelling scooters and small motorcycles. By the fall of 1945, he showed the first production-ready MV Agusta to the public.
Agusta initially called the small motorcycle the Vespa—Italian for wasp—but another company had registered that name, so it went on sale simply as the MV Agusta 98. The model range expanded as rapidly as the postwar supply of materials and finances allowed; within a few years, scooters, small motorcycles, and compact three-wheel commercial vehicles emerged from the Cascina Costa factory in ever-increasing numbers.
With the possible
exception
of the little delivery vehicles, these new machines quickly
found their way
onto racetracks. In the early days, there was a race
for just about anything on wheels—including scooters—and the various MV products
found their way
onto a variety of strange starting grids. Encouraged,
Agusta decided MV would
race.
The first purpose-built MV racer
appeared in 1950. It owed little, if
any, to the designs being
mass-produced for the public. While road-going MVs
were generally
powered by two-cycle powerplants, or four-cycle engines with
pushrod-operated valves—which would be the layout of choice for most MV
road
bikes in the future—the initial 125cc racer set the tone for
future competition
machines with valves operated by dual overhead
camshafts. MV’s factory racing
teams soon competed in virtually every
class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing,
and the Cascina Costa racing
department turned out 250, 350, and 500cc machines,
in addition to the
125s.
Results speak for themselves. Between 1952 and the
end of
the company’s factory-backed racing participation in 1974, MV Agustas and
their riders scored an incredible string of victories. Riders mounted
on MVs won
some 38 FIM championships in the various displacement
classes, while the bikes
themselves brought home 19 Manufacturer’s
Championship trophies. Much of the
credit for MV’s winning ways must be
given to Giacomo Agostini, the brilliant
rider whose movie-star looks
and flashing smile masked an almost supernatural
talent for racing.
Agostini personally accounted for 19 Rider’s Championships
while riding
for MV.
Agostini was not MV’s only brilliant rider. The roster
of legendary talents who raced for Agusta’s team is long. Count among
them:
Carlo Ubaldi, who began with the 98 scooters and progressed to
the 125 and 250cc
bikes; Leslie Graham, winner of the first FIM
Championship in 1949 on an AJS;
Nello Pagani, later manager of the MV
racing team; as well as John Surtees, Gary
Hocking, Mike Hailwood, John
Hartle, Phil Read, and others—some less known but
all supremely
talented.
The machines that
brought so much glory to Cascina
Costa were seldom innovative. Though
MV eschewed traditional chain-type final
drives for shafts at times,
experimented with a 500cc 6-cylinder powerplant, and
tried out a
flat-four boxer engine toward the end of its racing days, the
company
was most successful with its simple—albeit superbly conceived—2-, 3-,
and 4-cylinder racers. Another key to MV’s success was perseverance;
other
companies came into racing, stayed for a while, then left. The
MVs were there
year after year.
Racing, however, could not
keep MV healthy. The motorcycle
market in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s was
cyclical. Increasing prosperity in Italy
brought a boom in automobile
sales and a corresponding slump in the demand
for two-wheelers. MV
tried hard to accommodate changing times, but even the
sportbike boom
of the later 1960s and early ’70s—and the introduction of
excellent 600
and 750cc models—did not bring in sufficient funds to keep
production
going.
Count Agusta’s death in 1971 seemed to take the heart out
of the company. After an agreement with Bell in the United States to
manufacture
helicopters, motorcycle production tapered off. The
Castiglioni family—which
owns Cagiva and Ducati—acquired the rights to
build MV Agusta motorcycles in
1992, and has since offered new models
under that name. But the last “real”
Cascina Costa MV Agusta was built
in 1978 and delivered to a customer in
1980.
During the years
when MV made the transition from motorcycles to
aviation, the surviving
racing bikes from the factory’s extensive museum were
being stored in a
warehouse on the grounds. In 1986, a space shortage prompted
the
company to offer all remaining bikes and parts for sale. While competing in
a French motorcycle race, Jeff Elghanayan saw an ad for the sale and
began
negotiations to buy everything in a single lot. His attorney,
Italian-American
Roberto Iannucci, negotiated with MV on his behalf,
and eventually
consummated a sale. Included in the treasure trove were
12 complete MV racers,
plus frames, engines, and other components for
six more motorcycles, plus a
substantial quantity of spare parts.
Elghanayan chose to keep three machines
plus spares for himself, and
sold the rest.
Working with
restorer Todd
Millar, Elghanayan embarked on a painstaking restoration
process, involving the
creation of detailed notes and extensive parts
lists. After several years of
effort, Millar completed all three,
bringing them back to track-ready condition
while keeping virtually
every original part in place. Owner and restorer agreed
the bikes
should be clean and shiny, but not over-restored creampuffs. As such,
they accurately represent the work done by the craftsmen at
MV.
One in
particular, a 500cc 3-cylinder built in 1964, has a
most unusual history. After
being raced often in its early years, it
was apparently set aside until 1972,
when Giacomo Agostini asked to
have it prepared for that year’s Tourist Trophy
race on the Isle of
Man. He rode it to victory over a host of newer machines.
The others, a
500cc “four” from 1974 and a 1976 350 “four”—one of the last MV
racers
built—have each racked up a substantial number of racing miles.
These
days, the three magnificent machines are housed with an impressive
array of
bikes—primarily racers—in Elghanayan’s private collection.
Brought out and run
at various track events, they are, according to
their owner, as capable and
enjoyable to ride today as they were during
their days of glory.
