Hi,
I'm Jean-Louis, the Laverdamania.com webmaster.
I'm very happy to let you know that I've written a big
book on Laverda which contains a lot of unknown details and more
than 400 pictures, 176 pages, size 254 X 254mm, it will be published near mid-2006 by the publisher ETAI (
www.etai.fr) -at a price of 55 Euros-.
Please find below a presentation of this book, and also at:
www.laverdamania.com/BookGB.htm It will be available also in English if we can reach at least 500 pre-orders (English translation already done by the publisher). As soon as we find 500 pre-orders, the publisher will edit the book in english.
If you are interested to help, pre-order or if you can inform about this book and so contribute to make this English version possible, please, contact me at: sfcl@wanadoo.fr
Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Jean-Louis
http://www.laverdamania.com PRESENTATION:
Laverda is still considered as a legendary marque (in spite of it's
status as a modest family company) thanks in particular to
spectacular creations like the 750 SFC - champion of 70's endurance
races, the 1000 V6 – the first racing motorcycle equipped with such
an engine, or the 1000 Triple – the first very large capacity
motorcycle on the market and the most powerful and fastest motorbike
in the world at the time, and having initiated the main tendencies
of the golden age of motorcycling. In spite of all this, the books
relating to Laverda are relatively rare.
Moreover, those which have been produced are long since out of
print, and are often traded at very high prices on Ebay or other
similar websites.
The goal of this work, after more than two years of work and
research in Italy, and also in other European countries, the USA and
Australia, is to restore the historical truth of the marque through
its most legendary models like the 75, 100, 750, 1000, 1000 V6 and
500cc.
This book is approved and supported by the Laverda family who have
written the foreword and also provided many documents and
photographs, hitherto generally unknown by the public and
specialists alike.
It is written in English (professional translation) as the Laverda
marque is also extremely famous in English-speaking countries,
particularly in the UK where the Laverda 1000 Jota has reached the
status of a real legend.
It includes in a final chapter a practical guide for the purchasers
and collector's needs, particularly with purchase recommendations,
contact addresses, specialised Web sites, etc...
In comparison with previous publications, this work proposes a new
sense of detail, on historical, technical and anecdotal bases, and
also a reference for the very famous models of the Fifties and
Sixties which are very rarely recognised, meaning this book has no
real competitor in all the existing international editions.
The author himself carried out the necessary steps, travel and
research to meet with the most famous icons of the marque's history
and thus joined together the elements which have imbued the
documentary with such richness.
Collaborators in this work, with information and/or pictures are
notably the famous rider and journalist Alan Cathcart (who won the
Daytona Battle of the Twins on a Laverda 500), the champion George
Fougeray (factory team rider in the endurance races), the
businessman Jack McCormack (who was importer for the USA) , the
engineer Franz Laimböck (who conceived the 1200 SC and "nonframe"
superbikes) and numerous others famous people, and naturally, the
founding family thanks to the ongoing assistance of Piero Laverda
and his son Giovanni.
Painstaking work in cross-checking and confirming information with
the assistance of Stephen Battisson, and successive validation by
the Laverda family made it possible to give such structure to the
book that it can be used today as an absolute reference, for both
amateurs and collectors alike.
Lastly, one of the major assets of this work is the presentation at
the end of the book, an absolute exclusive, of a study carried out
by a significant international company on a future Laverda engine,
derived from the famous 3 cylinders engine (including 3D drawings).
Each chapter contains the whole history and specs of each model,
followed by a "focus on" a specific and famous bike + some anecdotes
as well.
Jean-Louis
http://www.laverdamania.com
