Tanks, Ago

TANKS, AGO

Truth be told, I’m not much of an autograph hound. Never have understood the appeal of having some celeb or sports star sign a scrap of paper just to prove I was in his/her exulted presence.

However.

There I was at the Legend Concours, my 1960 MV Agusta TREL 125 in line with 37 other MVs, part of the Featured Marque display, when walking down the row I spotted Giacomo Agostini hisownself. Darn guy, now 66, still looks like an Italian movie star. Probably could have been one, too, if he weren’t busy winning 15 world roadracing championships, 122 individual Grands Prix and 10 Isle of Man TTs, most of his glory coming on Count Agusta’s fabulous “fire engines,” of course.

Agostini also holds the distinction of winning the first-ever 500cc world championship with a two-stroke when he jumped ship to Yamaha in 1975. His last GP win, though, was back aboard an MV at the 1976 German Grand Prix held at the challenging Nürburgring circuit. Fittingly, it would be Agusta’s final GP race win and the last for a four-stroke until the MotoGP class came into being in 2002.

Anyway, what would you do? Me, I delved into my clean-up kit, found a Sharpie used for touching up paint chips, approached the great man and asked him to sign my 125’s gas tank, just below the pennant decal signifying MV’s 15 Campione del Mondo titles from 1952 to 1959. Before Ago’s time at MV, sure, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Can you clearcoat over magic marker without having it run?

David Edwards