The resulting Tralla Super Sport in 125 and 250cc versions gave a generation of privateers including Barry Sheene a taste for the Spanish fliers. The Tralla - Spanish for whiplash - was not only a good roadster but also the basis for an effective racer, so it wasn’t long before a road race version based on the factory bikes joined the line-up. The first Bultaco, the Tralla 101, was revealed to the press March 24, 1959. The “Thumbs Up” gas tank emblem was designed by Paco after he noticed British riders give the signal to show all was well as they flashed past the pits. The new company’s name was Bultaco - Francisco’s telegram signature when he was on business trips for Montesa and a contraction of Bulto and Paco, Francisco’s nickname. Four months later the prototype was ready for testing, and by February 1959 they were ready to go into production. That was May 17, 1958, and within days work started on a new 125cc single-cylinder 2-stroke motorcycle. “I’m going to suggest that he starts his own motorcycle business,” said Chalamanch. When word spread that don Francisco was leaving Montesa, his racing team went to production manager Joan Chalamanch’s office and asked what he was going to do. He had started the company with Pedro Permanyer in 1944, but when Permanyer and the other directors decided to pull out of racing Bulto felt he had no other option.
Fifty years ago, don Francisco Xavier Bulto resigned as technical director of Montesa.
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