history
Laverda is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in October 1949 by Fracesco Laverda. The company's first motorcycle was the Laverda 75, a bike introduced in 1950. In the first years of existence, they were mostly interested in motorsports, so Laverda 75 participated in several editions of the Giro d'Talia, Motogito and Italian enduro championships.
The second Laverda model was Laverda 100, which was officially released in 1955. However, until the late 1960's the company produced only small capacity bikes, scooters and mopeds. The most successful one was the Laverdino 48 moped, officially unveiled in 1958. What's interesting is that mots things were changed when Massino Laverda, the son of Francesco Laverda got involved into the company's management department attempting to create high capacity motorcycles.
Because of that, one of the most appreciated bike from Laverda came in 1968, when the company introduced the Laverda 650cc. Unfortunately for the parent company, this model didn't record too high sales so in 1970, Laverda brought out the 750 model which was almost a market hit.
The 750 series was continued in the next few years with the 750 SF mode and lasted until 1976 when the company launched Lavenda 1000, the most powerful motorcycle manufactured by the Italian firm. This new series was kept in production until the end of 1980. The next year, during the Milan Motor Show, Laverda came out with the 1000 RGS, also known as Real Grand Sport, which represented the improved version of the successful Laverda 1000.
Even if the company introduced a whole new range of small capacity 350 and 500 bikes in the 1990s, Laverda started experiencing financial problems. Although it struggled to revamp the production line, the company was finally purchased by the Aprilia group, which already owned Moto Guzzi. The latest model from Lavenda is the Phoenix 150, a scooter of 50cc, developed with the help of the Aprilia group.
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