1973 MV Agusta 500cc Grand Prix Racing Motorcycle Replica

Frame no. none Engine no. 1.02 RM1

• Faithful re-creation of MV Agusta's last Senior-class Grand Prix racer
• Built from factory drawings in 2012
• Paraded by World Champions Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read
• Last used in August 2019 at the 'Festival of 1000 Bikes' at Mallory Park

Arguably the greatest team in Grand Prix racing history, MV Agusta won everything that was worth winning at world level from the early 1950s to the late 1960s and beyond. Machines raced by the legendary Italian works team are among the rarest and most desirable racing motorcycles ever made.

The exquisite motorcycle offered here is a replica of the 1973 four-cylinder '500', MV's final fling in Grand Prix racing's Senior class. It was a development of the Italian firm's contemporary '350' four, which had been introduced in 1971 to counter the threat from Yamaha's two-stroke twins. In the Senior category the combination of Agostini and MV's '500' triple had proved good enough to take every World Championship from 1966 to 1972 inclusive, an unprecedented achievement. In 1973 Ago had to give best to his new team-mate, Phil Read, though he still managed to secure another World Championship in the '350' class. By this time MV also had a four-cylinder '500' available; its design, like its predecessor's, following that of the equivalent '350'. Riding the '500' four, Read took the World Championship again in 1974, Ago having moved to Yamaha. It would be the Italian company's final Grand Prix title, the Japanese two-strokes having by now gained the upper hand.

Not to be confused with the many 'cosmetic' replicas on offer, many of which use modern engines, this beautifully made machine was built from (believed) factory drawings in 2012 by Giuseppe Ioannoni and has had only one owner. Boasting a maximum power output of 80bhp at 14,000rpm, it has been paraded at the Isle of Man, Spa Francorchamps, Paul Ricard, Dijon, Donington Park, and the Red Bull Ring. The MV was last ridden - by Giacomo Agostini, no less - in August 2019 at the VMCC's 'Festival of 1000 Bikes' at Mallory Park (see photographs on file). It has also been ridden by Ago's team-mate Phil Read.

This machine has been maintained with no expense spared over the years and always kept in dry storage when not in use. The engine oil has been changed after each outing and the private vendor advises the MV runs well and sounds wonderful.

All surviving genuine examples of MV's last-of-the-line Grand Prix racers are held either in museums or private collections; only extremely rarely is one offered for public sale and when they are the cost is a king's ransom. All of which makes this accurate replica a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own the next best thing at a relatively affordable price.