Many of you will no doubt fondly remember watching the Yamaha RD350LC Pro-Am series, for Italians of a similar age similar emotions will be engendered by recollections of the "Coppa Laverda" series. The series, which commenced during 1978 saw riders, who had to be thirty or younger and who had never finished in the top three of any other race, competing over six rounds on specially prepared 500cc Laverda twins. Laverda produced 75 Formula 500's which went on sale during March 1978. The double over head cam 500 twin cylinder engine was mildly tuned with new pistons giving a 10.5:1 compression ratio and a straight through racing exhaust system. Fitted with lightweight racing bodywork and with the road going equipment removed the models weighed approximately 16 Kg less than the road going Alpino model from which they were derived.
Subsidised parts, available at the track together with technical support from Laverda mechanics and consumables from the series sponsors Total and Pirelli helped ensure the success of the series. The racing, which the author was fortunate to witness at Misano whilst on holiday, was as close and exciting as that afforded by the later Pro-Am series in the UK and was accompanied by a fantastic four stroke sound track. The following season saw a second batch of machines produced which differed slightly in having separate seat and tank assemblies instead of the one piece unit previously used, in order to facilitate a series run to the same rules in Germany by the Laverda importer. In addition to the success of the series in its own right the Formula 500 provided the basis for one of Laverda's classic production motorcycles, the Montjuich.
The machine offered is one of the later Formula 500's with the separate tank and seat unit and was probably used in the German Championship. It is presented in very good condition.
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