This was the Montesa Fura, an innovative Catalan three-seater scooter that was too modern a motorcycle for Spain in 1958

2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 02:44

At the end of the decade of the 50's, at a time when Spain was in recession and where Vespas and Lambrettas They were the citizen vehicles that populated the Catalan roads and the capital above all, Montesa He became interested in the scooter sector and put his designer to work Leopoldo Mila in one of the most prototypes eccentric and quirky that the Spanish two-wheel industry ever created: La Montesa Fura.

With the Fura, Milá, who would be the future designer of the Montesa Impala, would contribute not only a series of interesting technical solutionsbut an alternative way of manufacturing on the scooter that I took advantage of the resources that they already had and that does not need large presses of stuffing molds as if they used the Italian ones. Likewise, it never happened.

This scooter was an ingenuity based on practicality

Leopoldo Milá developed the prototype of the Montesa Fura and presented it in the 1958 Geneva International Motor and Motorcycle Show. Although it may seem ugly today, at the time various British magazines such as MCN and Motor Cycling They said it was "the most original design that year in Geneva for its self-supporting body" and for being "an extraordinary vehicle without being neither a scooter nor a motorcycle". Likewise, the project to produce the Fura was easily dismissed, but for other reasons.

The deep implantation in our land of other scooters in those years, especially of the Vespas was the main cause for the bulky and quite heavy construction of the Catalan designer was never produced by the firm.

Milá conceived the Fura as a motorcycle fully bodied. His own nature was characterized above all by his bodywork, which also performed the functions of self-supporting chassis. Made with a sheet steel 0.8mm thick bending Inverted 'U' shape, thus saving the costs that would have implied acquiring the presses and dies with which the competition manufactured the ‘Wasps’, the Fura provided a number of innovative ideas ahead of its time.

It was characterized above all by its self-supporting body made of a 0.8 mm thick steel sheet bent in an inverted 'U' shape.

The Montesa Fura had cheap technical solutions

With a design that bordered functional, the practical solution for seating, which had a comfortable backrest and were fixed on rails or guides with simple and inexpensive pins, was one of those successes that it presented and that was the most shocking. The guides allowed the seats to be moved to the desired height, or even closer together to host a third party, as well as mounting them even upside down or pin up the spare wheel.

The Montesa Fura was powered by an air-cooled, single-cylinder two-stroke engine with 142 cubic centimeters and 8 hp of power. It had a three-speed gearbox that was operated from the right grip

Milá provided other types of technical solutions in it, such as a fuel tank made of plastic that had the capacity to house 15 liters of gasoline (a large capacity for the time). It also had turn signals and a rear space (part of the body itself) for storage as a car trunk that served as what today would be the hood of the modern scooter. It was easily accessed lifting the license plate holder.

The Fura had a two-stroke single cylinder air-cooled, the same one used by the Montesa Brío 110, but adapted and raised to the 142 cc and what was throwing 8 hp of power. Had a change of three speeds that was operated from the right fist, like those that would have been its competitors.

Its dashboard was composed of a speedometer and the switches to activate the lights, they had an ignition system with battery, previous suspension type Earleswheels 12 inches larger than Vespa and drum brakes. Its front part, with the shield that integrates a wide section to house the lighthouse, is a visual impact.

The Fura was designed for easy maintenance

The practicality Mila's design went further, bordering on the functional as we said before. The motor and the transmission they oscillated solidarity together with the swingarm, making it very easy to disassemble the mechanics by removing a single pin that held the rear shock absorber. Nails side hatches in that inverted ‘U’ that was its body, they allowed quick access to the fundamental components such as the spark plug, battery, magnetic flywheel, clutch tensioner or to its carburettor for maintenance.

Of the original prototype devised by Leopoldo Milá in 1958, only two units remain, both are in Barcelona

All these benefits and technical solutions, quite ‘clever’, made the Fura cause nothing but fury, if a great impact among the international press who attended the aforementioned Hall. Despite this and the good reception of the concept, the Fura is another of those models that sadly it could be but it never was.

Of the original prototype devised by Leopoldo Milá, they are preserved two units. One is in the Pedro Permanyer collection (one of the firm's founders) in Terrassa and another in the Can Costa Foundation in Cerdanyola del Vallès, in Barcelona.