THE ARIZONA MOTORCYCLE COLLECTION This spectacular, low-mileage MV Agusta 750 Sport is surely one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made, built by the “Ferrari of Motorcycles.” MV Agusta was synonymous with Grand Prix victory from the 1950s through the 1970s, taking hundreds of wins and a remarkable 37 World Championships in all engine capacities. The most famous of their models were the Grand Prix racing 4-cylinder “Gallarate Fire Engines,” the all-red, howling fours that dominated the 350cc and 500cc classes from 1957 onwards. Count Domenico Agusta was the man behind the brand, whose only real interest was racing, but to justify the expense, he also built excellent road machines that basked in the race team’s glory. Count Agusta hired Gilera’s genius engine designer Piero Remor in 1952, with a brief to design a new 4-cylinder DOHC racer, just like the Gilera that currently held the World Championship. MV’s new fours were soon equal to or better than any other 500cc Grand Prix bike, and after 1956, when BMW, Gilera, Moto Guzzi and NSU quit their sponsorship of GP racing due to economic conditions, MV Agusta collected World Championship titles by the dozen. Even after the mighty Japanese companies entered the 350cc and 500cc Grand Prix in the 1960s, MV Agusta was the only European factory that fended off all comers in the 500cc class and took their last World Championship in 1974, and 2nd place in the world title in 1975, with 2-strokes from Yamaha barking at their heels. MV Agusta teased the introduction of a 4-cylinder road bike in the late 1950s at the Milan Motorcycle Show but only introduced their first 4-cylinder road model in 1965. Nicknamed “the Black Pig,” that first 600cc machine had ungraceful styling but an exceptional motor. In 1969 they made what the world really wanted, the 750 Sport, with a full 748cc motor and excellent café racer styling. With its organic, feminine curves contrasted with that engine, there was simply no competition in the beauty stakes, or in performance, as the MV Agusta was the fastest 4-cylinder bike in the world. It also handled like a proper Italian race-bred motorcycle unlike its Japanese competition, and was a simply exquisite machine—although very expensive—so not many were sold, making this a rare and coveted example. This exquisite 1977 MV Agusta 750 Sport had styling poached directly from the factory’s last 500cc Grand Prix racers. With twin Brembo discs up front, solid Marzocchi forks, a stout twin-tube loop frame and a fast motor, the 750 Sport was wildly expensive but was also claimed to be the fastest street-legal production road motorcycle, depending on the specification from the factory. S178 1977 MV Agusta 750S America Inline Four
