In the midst of World War II Count Domenico Agusta came to the idea that the best way to diversify the business and turn it into a peaceful channel would be to create a motorcycle production. Moreover, he understood that a country gutted by war would need a simple, cheap and efficient machine. Therefore, by August 1943, the engine was ready: a 98 cc single-cylinder two-stroke with two-stage gear box. And even if the total shortage of spare parts had to resort to the services of the black market, the process was already launched — and on January 19, 1945, in the town of Cascina Costa (near the Malpensa airport near Milan), a private company Meccanica Verghera S.r.l. was registered, and in the fall of the same year the first motorcycle was presented.