Aermacchi
Aeronautica Macchi (later "Aermacchi") was founded in 1912. Aermacchi started off by manufacturing Seacraft. Manufacturing Motorcycles started later.
Aermacchi was run out of a former aircraft factory at Varese in northern Italy. They built many 250 and 350cc single cylinder four-strokes in the 1950s and 60s. The Ala d'Oro introduced in 1959 was quite a racebike and was capable of 100 mph. Aermacchi was bought out by AMF Harley-Davidson in the 1960s, and in the process redirected it's focus to producing two-strokes. Walter Villa rode Varese-built Harleys to four 250 and 350cc world titles between 1974 and 1976, but two years later the firm was declared bankrupt and sold to Cagiva.
The bikes produced by Aermacchi were quite successful in the postwar Italian market, also thanks to their repeated placements on the race tracks. The firm designed and produced models incorporating the Italian word "Ala" (wing) in its names, such as "Ala Verde", "Ala Blu" and "Ala d'Oro" (respectively "green wing", "blue wing" and "golden wing").