MV Agusta

MV Agusta, originally Meccanica Verghera Agusta, is a motorcycle manufacturer founded on 12 February 1945 near Milan in Cascina Costa, Italy. The company began as an offshoot of the Agusta aviation company formed by Count Giovanni Agusta in 1923. The Count died in 1927, leaving the company in the hands of his wife and sons, Domenico, Vincenzo, Mario and Corrado.

Count Vincenzo Agusta together with his brother Domenico formed MV Agusta at the end of the Second World War as a means of saving the jobs of employees of the Agusta firm and also to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation. The acronym MV stands for Meccanica Verghera. Verghera is the place where the first MVs were made. (To the left: MV Agusta early racing model. Photo from www.mvagusta.com)

The company manufactured small-displacement, café racer-style motorcycles (mostly 125 to 150 cc) through the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1960s, small motorcycle sales declined, and MV started producing larger displacement cycles in more limited quantities. With the death of Count Domenico Agusta in 1971, the company lost its guiding force. They continued to sell bikes until 1980, but not without experiencing financial troubles. In 1991 MV Agusta brand was purchased by Cagiva.