Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The MV Agusta 500 6-cylinder (MV Agusta 500 6-cylinder) was a racing motorcycle prototype built by the Varese company MV Agusta in 1957. Only one prototype was made. MV Agusta had won the championship in the 500, 250 and 125 cc classes of the 1956 season. However, the 1957 season promised strong competition, especially in the premier 500 class, where the Moto Guzzi V8 and the Gilera La 500 4C had shown great potential. Undecided whether to follow the path of evolutionary refinement, as Gilera had done, or of innovation, such as Moto Guzzi, Count Agusta opted for a dual strategy that involved developing the victorious "500 4C" and, at the same time, putting service of a new multi-cylinder engine. The scheme of the project was conceived in the first months of 1956. Sports director Nello Pagani took care of the project, which was carried out with the utmost secrecy. The engine had cylinders and cylinder head made of light alloy was equipped with separate cylinders with cast iron liners. Like the four-cylinder models, it featured double overhead camshafts with two valves per cylinder. Six Dell'Orto SS26A carburetors were used to it. The frame was derived from the "500 4C": double cradle in steel tubes, with removable front tubes to facilitate assembly and maintenance. Development proceeded until the car was ready for a track test in the summer of 1957. To maintain total secrecy, it was Pagani himself who took on the role of test driver at the Monza circuit. The test gave encouraging results, both for the handling qualities, although they need improvement, and for the power of the engine. Its power of 75 hp at 15,000 rpm. The 500 Six made its debut during practice at the 1957 Grand Prix of Nations at Monza, but was not considered ready for race use. In 1958 it was tested in Modena and Monza by John Surtees, ahead of his official debut at the GP of Nations, the last race of the 1958 World Championship. The bike was entrusted to the British rider John Hartle who was forced to retire with a Biella fracture after the nineteenth lap of the thirty-five lap race (the press was told that the problem was with the gearbox). Work on developing the engine and chassis has resumed, but the announcement of the abstention agreement had already radically changed the balance between the teams, giving MV Agusta a position of technical supremacy that it has maintained for over a decade. . Surtees (as Arturo Magni revealed later) did not like the six-cylinder car which was wider and heavier than the "four". The six-cylinder reappeared during the free practice sessions of the 1959 Grand Prix of Nations, but was not used in the race. The latest evolution of the "500 6C" was prepared in the early months of 1960, but was later abandoned, given the futility of supporting its high development costs.
The MV Agusta 500 6-cylinder (MV Agusta 500 6-cylinder) was a racing motorcycle prototype built by the Varese company MV Agusta in 1957. Only one prototype was made. MV Agusta had won the championship in the 500, 250 and 125 cc classes of the 1956 season. However, the 1957 season promised strong competition, especially in the premier 500 class, where the Moto Guzzi V8 and the Gilera La 500 4C had shown great potential. Undecided whether to follow the path of evolutionary refinement, as Gilera had done, or of innovation, such as Moto Guzzi, Count Agusta opted for a dual strategy that involved developing the victorious "500 4C" and, at the same time, putting service of a new multi-cylinder engine. The scheme of the project was conceived in the first months of 1956. Sports director Nello Pagani took care of the project, which was carried out with the utmost secrecy. The engine had cylinders and cylinder head made of light alloy was equipped with separate cylinders with cast iron liners. Like the four-cylinder models, it featured double overhead camshafts with two valves per cylinder. Six Dell'Orto SS26A carburetors were used to it. The frame was derived from the "500 4C": double cradle in steel tubes, with removable front tubes to facilitate assembly and maintenance. Development proceeded until the car was ready for a track test in the summer of 1957. To maintain total secrecy, it was Pagani himself who took on the role of test driver at the Monza circuit. The test gave encouraging results, both for the handling qualities, although they need improvement, and for the power of the engine. Its power of 75 hp at 15,000 rpm. The 500 Six made its debut during practice at the 1957 Grand Prix of Nations at Monza, but was not considered ready for race use. In 1958 it was tested in Modena and Monza by John Surtees, ahead of his official debut at the GP of Nations, the last race of the 1958 World Championship. The bike was entrusted to the British rider John Hartle who was forced to retire with a Biella fracture after the nineteenth lap of the thirty-five lap race (the press was told that the problem was with the gearbox). Work on developing the engine and chassis has resumed, but the announcement of the abstention agreement had already radically changed the balance between the teams, giving MV Agusta a position of technical supremacy that it has maintained for over a decade. . Surtees (as Arturo Magni revealed later) did not like the six-cylinder car which was wider and heavier than the "four". The six-cylinder reappeared during the free practice sessions of the 1959 Grand Prix of Nations, but was not used in the race. The latest evolution of the "500 6C" was prepared in the early months of 1960, but was later abandoned, given the futility of supporting its high development costs.
