MV Agusta, and that 'MV' stands for Meccanica Verghera, started 12 on February 1945 in Cascina Costa, near Milan. The company was a spin off from the aircraft factory that Count Giovanni Agusta had started in 1923.
An MV 175 Sport
The count died in 1927 and the company came into the hands of the heirs: his widow and his sons, Domenico, Vincenzo, Mario and Corrado. Count Vincenzo Agusta and his brother Domenico found MV Agusta after the war. Due to their dubious loyalty in WWII, the Italians were allowed to do a little less on aircraft construction, and the economic circumstances were not as good either. What was needed was affordable motorized traffic for an Italian economy emerging from the misery. The spin-off from MV created employment for its own people and was able to deliver motorcycles.
Simply: a workplace
And 'Meccanica Verghera' meant nothing more or less than 'machine workshop from Verghera', the hamlet where the first MV Augustas were born. It is a given that Italians jubilantly seize every half chance to escape reality. That is why the MVs from the fifties and sixties of the last century were not immediately cheap motorized transport for the masses, but mainly dynamic, say racy motorcycles with cylinder capacities of 125/150 cc. The next step in business management could also be explained solely within the Italian philosophy: MV decided to make engines with more cylinder capacity, but to do so in smaller numbers than the small ones were running. Smart!
The approach resulted in 250 cc and later in 350 cc machines
The numbers of these were already considerably less than those of the light bicycles. But when MV Agusta made the switch to the now legendary three and four-cylinder, the desired reduction in production really reached a serious level. The money that was not earned there was, again entirely in accordance with Italian tradition, put into a multiple in racing. Fortunately, the now flourishing aircraft branch provided sufficient funds. But before that, MV was also highly active in racing. Not only on their own land, but also in England. At that time, the phrase 'race on Sunday, sell on Monday' was still very serious. And the 175 cc MVs did well on the circuits and in sales. They were very fast and incredibly beautiful. Moreover, the British drilled them to 200 cc.
1953 Was the year of birth of those 175 cc head valves
MV started with the 175 CST and CSTL (the Turismo and the Turismo Lusso, the touring and the luxury touring version), but the company soon developed a sporty version of it, the Sport. It was equipped with a larger carburetor, a larger cylinder head with more cooling surface, aluminum rims and a lot of beautiful, fire-red paint. Top! In 1954, the first production year, that sporty 175 cc was equipped with an almost perverse, beautifully sculpted tank.
The Flying Saucer
That creation was given the nickname "disco volante", "flying saucer". Shortly thereafter, MV released an extremely limited 175 cc "Super Sport" version for the national club races. Those machines were strangely equipped with Earle's swing arm front forks. In 1955, the new Super Sport model was introduced with completely new looks and a five-speed gearbox. That model was nicknamed "Squalo" (shark). In the mid-1950s, MV's were top sales in England, where tuners - as mentioned - quickly pulled the drill through the cylinders to give the machine a lung capacity of 200 cc.
They stopped racing
After the 1957 season, Gilera, Moto Guzzi and Mondial decided to withdraw from competitive sport for cost-benefit reasons. Count Agusta agreed at first, but changed his mind. This resulted in a series of 17 world championships with the now legendary three and four-cylinder.
The 'heavy' MVs nowadays have a price level that has long exceeded the 100.000 euro limit. And how nice is that? But even the light MVs no longer leave for change. This example of which purchase and optimization has already cost more than five digits is an example of this.
The MV agusta 175 cc
Single cylinder, four-stroke valve, Cylinder capacity: 172,3 cc, Bore x stroke: 59,5 x 62 mm, Compression: 8,2: 1, Power / rpm: 15 hp / 8,800, Carburetor: 25 mm Dell ´Orto, Ignition: flywheel magnet, Lubrication: wet sump, Start: kickstart, Primary transmission: gears, Clutch: multiple wet plate clutch, gearbox: 4 gears.
Employability: highly limited, 4 fun only
Reliability: excellent
Availability of parts: good within the specialist circuit
Key friendliness: good
Price level: At auction houses like Bonhams these machines stand for prices up to around the 20. 000 euros quoted.
