Mivalino – The Italian Messerschmitt

Under the company name of Metalmeccanica Italiana Val Trompia S.p.A. Gardone Val Trompia, Brescia, technical director and engineer Ettore Minganti, entered into a partnership with Giuseppe Beretta, Giuseppe Benelli, and William Castelbarco Albani. The partners provided funding and technical support to create a new factory intended to produce cheap transportation, which was greatly in demand in post-war Italy. An additional advantage was the possibility to drive it in Italy without a licence. Assembled from RSM (Messerschmitt) parts and locally produced components, it initially used the Sachs 175cc engine but Mival’s own 172cc unit was used for series production. Although it is almost identical to the KR175, it did use Italian sourced instrumentation and switches. The name ‘Mival’ is positioned on the nose in the same location as the ‘Messerschmitt’ script badge on the KR175. Faced with significant new competition is the micro-car market, it was not a commercial success and production ceased in 1956