April 2010 Archives

Could this be the nicest Lambretta Starstream in the US?  I certainly have not seen many that are nicer.  I am personally not a big fan of the J-range, but this one is crazy clean.

I can say that from experience.  I used to own a Lambretta "Super" Starstream as well as a "Cento".  The Super Starstream looks pretty much the same as this one, but had a turning front mudguard.  It was a pretty rare scooter... but it just wasn't very great.  The J-range was trying to compete with the excellent Vespa smallframes, primarily, the Vespa 50.  However, the Starstream could not hold a candle to the Vespa Primavera.  The J-range vibrates like crazy, is much slower than the Vespa, and honestly just doesn't look as good.  Sad really, because the other Lambrettas just look fabulous even when they are standing still.  The J-range just missed the mark entirely.  That is probably why the Vespa 50 sold millions and the J-range only thousands.

More info and photos below the jump...

This scooter comes with leering men as standard equipment!

See more regarding the wonderful Terrot scooters and motorcycles here (in French).

For some reason, there has been a flowering of ads in my local Craigslist for Vietnam-made Vespas recently.  Perhaps it is the spring showers which has perked them up?  Perhaps the owners took their deathtrap for a ride that one sunny day and decided that they did not want to meet their maker on this infernal machine.  Whatever the case, a bunch of people have come to the conclusion that they'd like some other sucker to pay for their horrible mistake of a purchase.  For educational purposes, I give you the hall of shame...

First up, we have this doozy of a bodge.  The seller claims it is a "1968 VBB".  Of course, the VBB ceaced production a few years before... but no matter, that's what the shop in Saigon told him it was over the internet.  The photos show what appears to be a front and a back end of different scooters grafted together.  The rear end is from some 50's widebody, the front, from who knows what - maybe the fabled VBB.  The headset is from a 50's handlebar, though probably home made in a Saigon back alley.  The front forks and fender don't match up properly.  The whole thing is just a mess from top to bottom.  However, it can be leaking oil in your garage for the pittance of $3750.

More Vietbodge fun below the jump:

Late Update:  This scooter made it to $6000, and did not meet reserve.  The six grand price is probably close (within a grand or so) to where it should be, given the fact that it isn't perfect.  About $500 worth of parts and a weekend of labor would have this scooter closer to perfect, and would probably go a long way towards bumping up the bidding.  Having international shipping lined up would go even further...  It is now back on ebay, with a $6500 starting bid and no reserve - so here's your chance!

Here is one thing you don't see for sale very often in the U.S., a Vespa 90 Super Sprint.  This is one of the more rare Vespas, and certainly a blue chip collector scooter.  Not many were made, only about five thousand, and even fewer survive today.  I have seen perfect examples with 100 point restorations fetch over $15,000 in Europe.  This one is nowhere near that level though.  Overall, it appears to be in fairly good condition, but it is missing bits here and there, and it just doesn't have the look of a scooter that has been properly done up, considering how precious it is.  It is interesting to note that despite how rare these things are, most of the parts one would need to complete a full restoration are available.  Things that are obviously missing from this one are the special chrome exhaust, the legshield trim, the rear seat badge, and the license plate holder. 

One other thing to be aware of is that there is a company in Germany which is making very high quality replicas of the 90SS.  Since you can get all the parts to make one of these from scratch for a fraction of the cost of buying a genuine one, any possible buyer of this scooter would be well advised to do their homework.  Get clear photos of the VIN numbers on this scooter, and get a lot of detailed photos of the rest of the bike.  You'll want to compare them with other reliable genuine 90SS's to be sure that this isn't a replica.

Back in the 50's a small car company with a funny name was trying to figure out how to market itself in the US market, which was dominated by huge car companies making huge cars.  They turned to Madison Avenue, and got what is rightfully considered the best and most iconic ad campaigns ever.  They had crisp photos with white backgrounds and snappy and funny copy.  The ads fit the cars perfectly.

Well, for those ad companies which were not nearly as creative, imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.  If you had a European scooter company come to your door asking to create a marketing campaign, why not just pitch an ad which "feels just like the Volkswagen ads!"  And that is just what Piaggio got.  Above is a good example the genre.  This is probably the best Vespa ad from the period, funny, but making the point that the best quality of the Vespa is that it isn't trying to be a Harley. 

Late update:  This scooter ended up selling last week for $5500 with only one bid.  Someone walked away with a great deal.  Obviously the general economy didn't help the seller, but the sold price was quite low for this scooter.  My guess is that the fact that the seller did not offer to help with shipping and was looking for a local sale hurt the final price quite a bit.  In any case, well bought, and hopefully this scooter will be out on the scooter runs soon.

This is a scooter that you just don't see for sale very often in the US.  It is the DL/GP200, certainly among the best scooters ever made, and among the most valuable to collectors.  This is an Italian version, and looks very tidy.  It is for sale right now on Ebay.

These were not imported to the US (perhaps a few slipped through for police use), and so are very rare here.  Heck, they are quite rare even in Europe, and large demand from collectors have pushed prices for them way way up.  This auction should be one to watch.  Expect the final price to end up somewhere between $8-10,000 for this scooter.  It will be interesting to see if the Great Recession does anything to the value.  The main question is going to be shipping.  If the seller had international shipping lined up, this thing would fetch closer to $10k, and likely be on the slow boat to the UK at the end of the auction.

This is a neat photo of a 50's Allstate Vespa.  It appears to be taken on a military base, probably Air Force.  I love the 50's look that the mom has, and the kid looks straight out of Leave it to Beaver.  Also, I just can't imagine any scene like this happening today's hyper-safety conscious society.  A mom riding her kid on the back of her scooter - no shirt, no helmet, shorts...  what could possibly go wrong?  Oh the 50's were a golden era of foolishness.

As we noted last week, there have been several Vespa Apes for sale recently in the US.  Here's an ad for a 60's version.  They do have a certain visual appeal.  Strange, but appealing.  One wonders why they didn't go the full monty and throw the fourth wheel in there to add stability.

Via Filminas.

Hot on the heels of the American Pickers TV show, every doofus with a back shed is looking to find some junk they can sell for millions.  Here we have a guy who is at least honest about the hack job "farm engineering" which was done to this Ape.  You can see the huge gash in the floorboard where he cut it open for cable access.  He also cut the rear breaks and added some home made manifold to take a carb from something else.  The headlight on these in the US market was mounted to the horncasting, and that is missing.  Good luck finding another one.  That said, this thing looks reasonably complete, but clearly will need a ton of work and money to get it going.  There is no way that anyone would recoup the investment in this Ape, even if it was free.

Compare that with this '65 Ape which is being sold by a friend of mine.  You can see the difference in styles, with the 60's Ape having an enclosed cab.  The '65 is also going to need a lot of work, but at least it is running.  The 60's parts are a lot easier to find, since they are similar to the Bajaj-made three wheeler, which was made by the millions in India.  This Ape is also only for the very ambitious restorer.  It clearly needs a lot of work.

If you love the Ape, there are some options, that's for sure.  Both of these scooters will have you dumping piles of money into them with little financial upside.  There is not a lot of a market for even perfect Apes in the US.  However, for everything, there is a niche collector.  I'm sure there is someone out there with a yard full of Apes.  If that is you, or you aspire to be that guy, step up!

We here at Scooterlounge are nerds.  We freely admit it.  And one thing nerds do is get overly excited about very odd things.  For example, we go totally weak in the knees when we see pristine NOS parts that are very seldom for sale... just like the carburetor above.  It is for sale right now on Ebay with a buy it now of $475.  Ouch!  That is certainly a lot of money, but these carbs for GS's are pretty hard to find even in used condition, and we have to say that we've never ever seen an NOS one. I doubt we'll see another NOS one for sale any time soon.

More nerding out, below the jump