Montesa was Formed in 1944 by Pedro Permanyer and Francisco Xavier “Paco” Bultó (Bultaco fame), Permanyer began to produce his own gas engines. Permanyer promoted the all-around champion motorcyclist Pedro Pi from head test rider to chief development engineer, then Leopold Mila was made Technical Director and Permanyer’s son Javier, was to be Sports Assistant. The company had great success with small displacement 95cc, 125cc, and 175cc models, and by the late 60′s, but Montesa’s 250 engine would be the cornerstone of the company’s future success. Pedro Pi won many championships on Montesa, in Motocross, Trials, and Road Racing.
Montesa only sent a small percentage of its production to the States, concentrating mostly on the European market. Trials models were offered in many different sizes 25, 49, 125, 175, 250, 348 and 349, as were motocrossers 125, 175, 250, 360 and 414. This also included a line of street and Enduro models also. In 1973, the VR (Vehkonen Replica) was released and set the standard for 1974, as did the 348 Cota did in 1976. Ulf Karlsson won the World Trials Championship on a Cota in 1980.
By 1981, another round of economic unrest in Spain began to hinder motorcycle manufacturers. Strikes and a shrinking market left Montesa as the only major motorcycle concern in the country; however they were in need for a major influx of capital in order to continue to survive. A loan from the government and shares sold to Honda (to establish a European manufacturing base for their commuter bikes) helped production continue. In July 1985, a major reorganization took place and a large amount of money from Honda was received, Honda now had an 85% holding and spent another $5 million on modifying and updating the factory. Montesa was still active in World Trials competition throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, and still offer a liquid cooled HRC Honda powerplant Cota today, the company had dropped all the other models that help build the success of Montesa… Gone but not forgotten.
