History of Cagiva
Cagiva was established in 1978, in the city of Varese in northen Italy. The name is an acronym for Castiglione Giovanni and Varese. They went into motorcycle production after they bought a factory from AMF- Harley Davidson in Schiranna. The company touched an annual production of 40,000 bikes by 1979.
Cagiva bought Ducati in 1985 and the Ducati name was retained as it was well known outside Italy. Subsequently, the ‘Alazzurra’ and the ‘Elefant’ were introduced, both possessing Ducati powerplants. Cagiva later went on to buy Moto Morini (1985) and the Husqvarna in 1987. In 1996, Ducati and the Moto Morini name were sold to the Texas Pacific Group.
The trademarks of the MV Augusta group was bought by Cagiva in 1991. The first new MV Augusta was introduced in 1997. The new bikes were 4-cylinder 750 cc sports machines. 1999 saw the Cagiva group being restructured and MV Agusta become the main brand comprising Cagiva and Husqvarna. 2004 saw the introduction of a 1000cc bike.
In 2005, MV Agusta introduced the Tamburini 1000, named after its creator Massimo Tamburini, who previously worked for Moto Guzzi, and most recently Ducati. Cycle World and Australian Motorcycle News magazine rated it the ‘best sports bike in the world’.
The MV Agusta F4 refined the innovative design of the world renowned Ducati 916. The MV Agusta has been highly acclaimed as one of the best handling motorcycles ever produced.
The evolution of CAGIVA logo:
1978 - In the spring of 1978 the Elephant, lucky symbol Giovanni Castiglioni chose for CAGIVA shortly after the Second World War, enters the motorbike world superimposed on the N.1 with the Italian colours inherited from the Aermacchi-HD.
1985 - The Elephant takes all the attention in the new logo removing the Italian colours.
1987-1994 - A new version is introduced highlighting the racing activities by putting a chequered flag on the Elephant’s back to differentiate the Racing Division from the normal production.
2000 - The Crimson centre designs a new logo based on the Elephant to better match the new models like Raptor, V-Raptor and Navigator.
