TIMELY TRIBUTE
As it continues its ride along the comeback trail, MV Agusta has been acquired by Russian investor Timur Sardarov, after his successive cash injections allowed the famed Italian brand to survive yet another brush with bankruptcy. His rescue mission will allow MV to continue offering the ever more tantalizing array of new models combining leading-edge engineering with arresting-looking design that it’s become famous for around the world since its revival by the Castiglioni family exactly 20 years ago, with the debut of the F4.
But 20 miles farther south of MV’s Varese base, the traditions of this marque have continued uninterruptedly to be showcased in a modern context. For in the Moto Magni factory at Samarate, Giovanni Magni, 59, is now producing the latest in a series of traditional-looking bikes powered by modern MV Agusta engines.
It’s only in the past six years that this small but well-equipped factory has started using the products of the modern MV Agusta firm as the basis for creating a potent blend of yesterday’s looks and today’s performance. It’s hard to think of any company more entitled than Moto Magni to use current MV Agusta hardware to produce such an authentic retro bike. For it was the firm’s founder, Giovanni’s late father Arturo who, before he passed away in December 2015 at the age
