Navarra, Ardito, Capriolo and Ceccato. Inspired by these results, and after once again improving their bikes, Laverda entered 20 bikes the following year in the 15th running of the Milan-Taranto in 1952. In this race which covered a distance of 1410 km they took the first five places. The winner was Nino Castellani, L. Marchi came second and F. Diolio came third. In total they had 16 bikes amongst the first 20 of the classification. Laverda motorcycles thus became a firm favorite among racing clubmen due to their record for reliable performance. Over the next two decades, Laverda would go on to produce new models of ever increasing capacity and capability, in different sectors of the market. Off-road, trial and motocross machines were developed in conjunction with other manufacturers like Zündapp, BMW and Husqvarna, and were successfully raced. But the real development came in street models, which began to earn a good reputation as classy, low maintenance and quiet motorcycles. From that first 75 cc single, they eventually went on to produce different bikes ranging from scooters, the Laverdino commuter and eventually to the 200 cc twin. The big twins By the late 1960s, Francesco and brothers began sketching out a new breed of large motorcycles that would be built around an all new 650 cc parallel twin engine. The brand was now sufficiently strong and well known, and Francesco's son Massimo had just returned from the USA where it was clear that sales were dominated by large capacity British and American hardware suited for long distance traveling. Above all this, was a desire to produce a prestigious and powerful machine that could conceivably take on the best and finest from Moto-Guzzi, BMW and the rapidly emerging Japanese. In November 1966 Laverda exhibited the result of its thinking with the 650 prototype at Earls Court in London. While not an extreme sport bike in any sense, it exhibited all the virtues that Laverda had become synonymous with. At the same time its appearance disrupted the concept of a big bore parallel twin being British built. After this first appearance, Luciano Zen and Massimo Laverda retreated until April 1968, working hard in order to prepare the bike for production. By now they had developed a 750 cc version too. They were confident enough to enter four examples in the prestigious Giro d'Italia. Two 650 and two 750 machines provided Laverda with