A Brief History of the Marque
Manufactured: 1940-1960 in via Cavoretto, Turin.
Beginning with a 175cc two-stroke, in the nineteen forties Giuseppe Carrù built OHC racing motorcycles of 250cc to 500cc which he rode in the Sanremo / Ospedaletti and other races.
Giuseppe Carrù also built some beautiful dirt bikes ridden by the likes of the great Emilio Ostorero (16 Italian championships, "The Lion of Avigliana") which won many motocross races in both 250 and 500 classes.
Mi-val entered into an agreement with Carrù to build and service their competition motocross machines. Carrù built the double cradle frame and modified the Mi-Val engines. The majority of the other components were also of Mi-Val origin.
Now known as the "Mi-Val Carrù", they were raced by Ostorero, Antonio Moretti and Cesare Bricarelli. In 1958 Emilio won the 500 championship and another Mi-Val came second in the 250 class. The following year the results were similar. Economic hardship caused Mi-Val to cease campaigning at the end of 1959, but development at Carrù's workshop continued and the machines were seen on the track until 1965.
There exists a rather beautiful machine with a 250cc DOHC parallel twin housed in a slimline Featherbed frame, but it may not have been built in his workshop.
Carrù worked with Mondial, and was also a well-respected sidecar racer having won the 1951 Locarno sidecar class among others. He is regarded as something of a genius also for his frames which were used in many disciplines.
Sources: MC Storico Conti, moto.it, motoclub-tingavert.it, et al.
