| 1966 Montessa Factory
Road Racer |
|
 |
This is a bike with a strange history. It won the 1966 Spanish
Championship ridden by Jose Busquets for the Montessa factory.
But is it a Montessa? No, not really, only the fiberglass. It
was built by Walter and Francesco Villa. But the Villas built
similar looking bikes for Mondial (Italian), winning the Italian
Senior Championship in 1964 and ’65. When Mondial quit racing
in 1965, two bikes suddenly showed up at Montessa. This bike may
be the last Mondial racer. This bike, repainted, floated around
as a “production” Villa (which bears no resemblance)
until being discovered in the early 90’s by Robert Allen.
I was fortunate to get this rare bike from him |
|
|
|
|