Disco Volante

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So little that can be said about this mystery car. The only known photograph is this, found in a 'For Sale' advertisement from car dealers, Metcalfe and Mundy, in the December 1955 issue of Motor Sport Magazine. Whilst it describes the car as Volanti', though I am assured that the correct spelling is 'Volante'. All I can really tell you is that it is a DB2/4. right hand drive, chassis 810, built for Lord O'Neil, body almost certainly of glass-fibre and that the Northern Irish registration number isn't on the DVLA computer. The design is obviously very closely based on that of the rare, 1952 Touring designed spyder, the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante (Italian for Flying Saucer)

MV Agusta

Disco Volante was the nickname given by the people and the press to the two sport models of the 175 MV lauched in 1954 in two versions : the 175 CS Sport and the 175 CSS.(Super Sport). The nickname was given due to the tank shape looking as a "Flying saucer" which was common to the two models.

Alfa Romeo

The very refined two-seat sporty 1900 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante featured one of the most interesting bodyworks designed by Touring with a convex lenticular profile. Only two copies of the prototype were produced. Its top speed was rated at around 140 mph.

James Bond

The Disco Volante is a fictional ship in the James Bond novel Thunderball (1961) and its 1965 film adaptation of the same name. It was a hydrofoil craft owned by Emilio Largo, an agent of SPECTRE. It was purchased with SPECTRE funds for £200,000. The craft plays a pivotal role in the seizure and transportation of two nuclear warheads. It is a high-tech ship that possesses a number of smaller underwater submarine craft.

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750cc MV 4 cylindres

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Despite the racing success Count Augusta insisted that the super successful four cylinder engine wasn't developed in the same way for the production series. The mistakes turned out costly for fans who were expecting a quality race bike. Instead they got the detuned 600 four which never became a huge success.
Agusta learned from the flop and in 1970 introduced the 750 Sport which was strongly orientated on the race models. This was what was expected from MV Agusta bikes and the 750 Sport was an instant success. Although it was expensive, it sold well. In following years the 750 sport was updated and in 1975 a 750S America was introduced for the US market.





The big four engines were mainly being built by hand and even though they were expensive - the firm started to have financial problems. Even the success of the big fours started to be a problem for MV Agusta. Count Agusta had passed away in 1971 due to a heart attack and, under guidance of brother Corradino, the company couldn't break out of the financial problems.



The MV Agusta motorcycle division was part of the larger MV helicopter company and by 1977 the Agusta family had lost power of the business. The last bikes were sold and in 1980 MV Agusta closed its doors.

Picture courtesy of : Jean-Claude Barrois

Picture courtesy of : Peter Pafalvi

Picture courtesy of : Peter Pafalvi