How much do you know about this obscure Italian marque?

Moto Laverda was a glorious but relatively small Italian manufacturer which made a significant mark on the global motorcycle market during its existence under the ownership of the Laverda family from 1949 until the mid-1980s. The first manufacturer to produce a 750 cc sportbike, it was also the first to develop a full 1,000 cc Hypersports model, both times ahead of the Japanese manufacturers, before creating the iconic V6 Endurance racer which made a solitary appearance in the 1978 Bol d’Or 24-Hour race.

In Moto Laverda, British racing journalist Alan Cathcart has told the story of the family-owned brand by test riding all its most illustrious multi-cylinder racing models, starting with the 750 SFC of which just 549 examples were built during the 1971-76 period, through the 1975 three-cylinder 3C Endurance racer to the illustrious 1978 Laverda V6 prototype Endurance racer, and finally the factory’s fond farewell to the race track in the shape of the 1984 RGS TT1 triple.

Also included is the inside story of the Ogier Laverda 600TT2 on which Cathcart himself won the 1984 Daytona Battle of the Twins race, as well as the Australian-built 
915 SFC twin which defeated larger-capacity triples and fours from Honda and Triumph to win the country’s hotly contested Post-Classic Championship in 2002. There’s also a detailed look at the outstanding Laverda Museum in the brand’s hometown of Breganze, which tells the full history of the marque via a summary of its exhibits in words and photos.

As always in this series of books published by FBA Moto Italiane, Moto Laverda is a large format (30 × 23 cm) hard cover volume, printed on high quality glossy paper, with 176 pages containing the text in both Italian and English. It features 83 full page photos, including many previously unpublished historic images from the Laverda family’s collection.

Moto Laverda costs € 55.00 and is available via 
motoitaliane.it as an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies, for shipping worldwide.