In November 1966 Laverda exhibited the result of its thinking with the 650 prototype at Earls Court in London. While not an extreme sport bike in any sense, it exhibited all the virtues that Laverda had become synonymous with. At the same time its appearance disrupted the concept of a big bore parallel twin being "British built". After this first appearance, Luciano Zen and Massimo Laverda retreated until April 1968, working hard in order to prepare the bike for production. By now they had developed a 750 cc version too. They were confident enough to enter four examples in the prestigious "Giro d'Italia". Two 650 and two 750 machines provided Laverda with victory for the 650 in her class, with three bikes finishing in the first 6 and all in the top 10!