The
rumors are unconfirmed, but it appears MV Augusta will have a German partner soon, as Daimler is in talks to buy a minority stake of that venerable Italian company. As you'll recall,
MV was owned by Harley-Davidson for two years, did nothing with the brand, then
handed it back on a silver platter to the Castiglioni family two years later...strangely, the same family who took Aermacchi from H-D's hands, decades prior. When Harley dumped MV in 2010, they paid all that company's debt as part of the deal, reportedly losing many Millions in the process. MV Agusta has been on shaky ground since, but has an excellent engine, chassis, and styling, and does well in World Superbike racing. The financial strength of Daimler could be a real godsend to the small Italian company. So, what's up with German auto companies buying Italian motorcycle brands?
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| The awesome DKW 'singing saw' three-cylinder two-stroke of 1953; part of Audi's DNA |
When Audi bought Ducati in 2012, the world scratched it's head - a German car company adding a struggling, small production Italian sportbike to its highly successful line of cars? It took a deeper look into Audi's DNA to find a connection - the
highly successful DKW racers of the 1930s through 1950s, screaming two-strokes on which Ewald Kluge won the Isle of Man Lightweight TT in 1938, with an 11-minute lead over the next bike, an Excelsior. Between 1925 and 1956, when DKW, NSU, BMW, Gilera, and Moto Guzzi disbanded their factory GP teams, DKW won more German championships (38) than any of its rivals. In the 1930s, of course, DKW was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, and part of the Auto Union (an alliance of Wanderer, Horch, DKW, and Audi), which had a deep interest in motorsport. Auto Union became simply Audi after Volkswagen acquired the name in 1964. DKW continued to support racing, in motocross, into the 1970s, with successful ISDT entries and motocross championship contenders, all lightweight two-strokes.
So much for Audi. But Daimler? It's only motorcycle connection, if you can call it that, was a mobile test-bed for the
1885 'Otto' engine (the first four-stroke gasoline-powered engine) called the Reitwagen. The Reitwagen had two big wheels, and two smaller ones for balance, and was clearly never intended to be a moto-cycle, ie, a powered vehicle using the unique physics of the two-wheeler. The Reitwagen was a
drais (an early, wooden-framed, pedal-less bicycle) altered to accommodate a platform holding the motor, on which the engine (designed by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach) sat, supported by two smaller wheels. It was ridden 8 miles on Nov 10, 1885, before the saddle caught fire, and Daimler turned his attention to improving his engine, for installation in carriages, airships, and boats.
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| The 1885 patent drawing of the Daimer/Maybach engine |
So, why take a stake in MV Agusta? Apparently it's the Mercedes sports-tuning branch AMG which will attach to MV, and with its considerable engine and chassis tuning experience, we may see an interesting cross-pollination of technology between the two companies. The motivation might be pure jealousy, with BMW's long-standing motorcycle connection, and Audi's return to the fold via Ducati. Mercedes-Benz has no history with motorcycles, but who can resist the cool of owning a very fast bike?
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