Montesa Motorcycles

Montesa was founded in 1944 in Barcelona by Pedro Permanyer and Francisco Xavier "Paco" Bulto, with their first prototype based on French Motobecane designs. The company became one of Spain's leading motorcycle makers and, from the 1960s onward, a dominant force in observed trials: its first mass-produced trials model, the 250 Trial, appeared in 1967, and the Cota 247 launched the following year became one of the sport's iconic machines, with rider Ulf Karlsson winning the World Trials Championship on a Cota in 1980. Economic pressure in Spain in the early 1980s left Montesa short of capital, and the Permanyer family began selling shares to Honda, which took a majority 85% stake by 1986 and invested heavily in modernizing the factory. Operating since as Montesa Honda, the brand has continued to combine Spanish trials engineering with Honda manufacturing and engines, remaining one of the sport's most successful names.