~ Auto Buzz ~: ARTURO MAGNI: 1925-2015 Legendary MV Agusta race manager dies at 90, leaves amazing legacy of 270 Grand Prix wins and 75 world championships.

Arturo Magni with a Moto Guzzi powered Magni bike

Arturo Magni, the master, the legendary manager that led the MV Agusta racing team to 270 Grand Prix race victories and 75 World Championships has gone and with him one of the most intense chapters of motorcycling history. Magni was born in a small town northeast of Milan, Usmate-Velate, very close to Arcore and the Gilera factory. But in his younger years his real interest was airplane modeling and it was in this domain that he expressed his great technical creativeness, supported by a very sharp analytical ability that led him to create full-size gliders that he flew himself, winning the Italian gliding championship the year before the outbreak of World War II.

A very young Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, team mechanic Castelli, and Arturo Magni.

In 1947, he was first hired by Gilera, where his great technical talent was immediately noted by chief project engineer Pietro Remor, who wanted him in the R&D department to work on his new Gilera 500cc four-cylinder GP engine. At that time, Count Domenico Agusta was determined to establish his newly created MV Agusta as a leading name in motorcycling and hired Remor to design an evolved 500cc four-cylinder GP engine and also its road-legal derivative. To adequately deal with this new massive task, Remor took Magni with him. Arturo eventually led the MV Agusta racing department from the early ’50s until 1976, when MV Agusta shut down its motorcycle division. During that time, Magni led a team of outstanding mechanics to world dominance in racing. He led the team with a strong hand and was always the first to work hard until late in the night. His manner was precise and determined, with a sharp vision of technical problems and racing strategies alike.

Arturo Magni and the old MV Agusta 500cc Four GP Racer.

Under his leadership, the MV Agusta team was an example of composure and sobriety, and, I would say, “quiet.” He himself was an absolutely soft-spoken man who never wasted words. Though friendly and gentle, he was very tight lipped about the bikes and the team, and he set the tone for the rest of the team. His technical experience was fundamental the MV Agusta 350/500cc three cylinder GP racer projects of the glory years, and then to the 350/500cc fours that were the swansong of MV Agusta racing. His experience was supreme in both engine and chassis development and that gave an extra edge to Giacomo Agostini and then to Phil Read in their quest for Grand Prix victories. When MV Agusta’s motorcycling department closed down, Magni remained as superintendent of the MV Agusta museum, but, most important, he gave life to EPM with his sons Carlo and Giovanni to whom he transferred all his great experience. Their creations were strongly influenced by his experience, especially in the design of the frames, which was rather natural: Those chassis dominated the world motorcycling scene for a quarter of a century.

Arturo Magni with his son Giovanni.

Now EPM has evolved into the company simply called Magni, under the guidance of Giovanni. I saw Giovanni at EICMA, where he presented the latest update of his great Filorosso, a perfect revival of the MV Agusta 500cc GP triple using MV’s modern liquid-cooled 800cc three-cylinder. He told me that his father was not feeling well. I did not expect that things would decline so rapidly and I am terribly sorry for the loss of another great friend from the glory days. But Arturo’s influence will remain strong, carried on by his sons, primarily by Giovanni and this is a wonderful case of father-son relay that will help preserve the legend and legacy of a man and of his winning bikes. Thank you, Arturo.