Alan Cathcart He is probably the most influential two-wheeled journalist of recent decades. Anyone who considers themselves a fan and lover of this world has at some point in their life enjoyed one of the many chronicles and stories told by the renowned British communicator.
As if this were not enough, he is the author of several thematic books where he reviews the history of such famous brands as Ducati or MV Agusta: “DUCATI 748 on the road and on the track” or “MV Agusta – Moto GP 1957-1976” are two good examples of this. Now he returns to the spotlight with the latest of his works directly related to these serials: Laverda Motorcycle.
Moto Laverda: a world reference at the dawn of the Superbike era
Moto Laverda was a glorious but relatively small Italian manufacturer, but one that left a significant mark on the global motorcycle market during its existence under the ownership of the Laverda family, from 1949 to the mid-1980s. Among its major milestones was being the first manufacturer to produce a 750cc sports motorcycle.
It was also the first to develop a 1,000cc Hypersport model, both times ahead of Japanese manufacturers, before creating the iconic V6 endurance motorcycle that made a single appearance at the 1978 24 Hours of Bol d’Or. At Moto Laverda, Alan Cathcart has told the story of the family brand by testing all of its most illustrious multi-cylinder racing models.
Starting with the 750 SFC, of which only 549 examples were built between 1971 and 1976, through the three-cylinder 3C Endurance of 1975 to the illustrious Laverda V6 Endurance prototype of 1978, and finally the emotional farewell from the factory to the racing circuits with the three-cylinder RGS TT1 of 1984. Also included is the history of the Ogier Laverda 600TT2, with which Cathcart himself won the 1984 Daytona Battle of the Twins race.
A work of this type could not miss the Australian-made 915 SFC twin-cylinder, which defeated the larger-displacement three- and four-cylinder Honda and Triumph to win the country’s hard-fought Post-Classic Championship in 2002. In addition, a detailed look is offered at the exceptional Laverda Museum in Breganze, the brand’s birthplace, which tells the complete history of the brand through a summary of its exhibitions with texts and photographs.
As usual in this series of books, Moto Laverda is a large-format hardcover volume (30 × 23 cm), printed on high-quality glossy paper, with 176 pages containing the text in Italian and English. Includes 83 full-page photographs, many of them historical and unpublished from the Laverda family collection.
Moto Laverda is now available as a Limited edition of 1,000 individually numbered copieswith shipping worldwide for a final price of 55 euros.
For more information and details you can consult directly on the official website of FBA Moto Italiane.
