February 2012 Archives

Via CrocodileJock.

Gary from the Isle of Wight emailed us with photos of his Lambretta LD 150 Avv. He just rescued it from a friend's shed. Just in time, from the looks of it. The Avv is a bit of an odd duck. Innocenti decided that they wanted to make a bit of a "luxury" scooter, and adapted the LD. The Avv added electric start to the LD, along with 12 volt electrics. Gary's scooter has the accessory clock, but I'm not sure if that came standard on the Avv. What I am certain of is that the Avv was very expensive when it was new. It cost about as much as the hot rod TV 175 Series I. Consequently, very few were sold. I've seen a few for sale around the US, but not more than a handful. I sure would love to own one!

See a few more photos of Gary's scooter here on the main site.

Photo by Ansel Adams

Permit me to geek out on you... This is a photo of a very rare Vespa badge. It is from a 1952 Allstate. I believe that this is a reproduction, but this gives you the idea of what they looked like.

Update 02/26/12: Friend of the site Johnny Maw sent in some very detailed information about the early Allstates. I'm going to post it here. Information about these really early Allstates is very hard to find, so enjoy!

It is my understanding that the first Allstate scooters were imported November of 1951. These scooters were made up of the common Vespa parts from that time, both frame and engine. The Allstate Chevron you have pictured was made to fit in the slot in the center of the leg shield, where the normal Piaggio tag would have been mounted. The VIN numbers for this first batch of Allstate scooters begins at 1000, and ends at 2000. These were model 788-100. I know of 3.

The next batch were model 788-101, for 1952. People often refer to these as the 1951 model, but it is not the same scooter, although they are quite similar to the 100 series. Like the 100 series, the cowls, front mudguard are all aluminum. It is the aluminum horn cast that confuses people, as it is mostly associated with the 1951 model. There are mere months that separate the two models, so when people refer to the 101 as the 100 or 1951, I generally agree, but they are indeed two different scooters.

The TA17B carb and the 12 & 6 hole pattern to mount the air filter were the same as well. The engine VIN was VA32M, where as the 100 series was something different (I will remember shortly). The VA32M engine was used for the rest of the pre-55 models. It is unknown exactly when the badges changed, but it is generally agreed that the Chevron may have made it on to a few of the 101 models, and then the Allstate Country-wide badge was placed into drilled holes on the leg shield. I have a bit of an oddity, a 2200 VIN that has neither the Chevron or the Allstate-Country badge, and no holes for either of them. Original paint and no visible body work. I am still investigating this.

The 788-101 models changed sometime in the middle of production, although they were still sold as 1952 model year. The most notable difference is the horn cast goes from the aluminum to a stamped metal piece. Assuming the 101 model started at VIN 2001, the aluminum horn cast made it at least through VIN 4400, as I have one in that range with the aluminum cast.

The 788-102 Model for 1953 remained mostly the same, although I believe a different switch cover was used, moving from metal to plastic. At some point in this production, it appears the fan cover moved from a louvre type, to an open center design. The carb and air filter also move to an 11 & 6 mounting pattern.

The 788-103 remained the same to my knowledge as well.

So with that bit of history, you have some background on why this badge is not one you often see. The only few that I've seen have been attached to scooters. Cool!

I've been working on getting the orange GP 150 back to running shape.  (See Part 1, and Part 2).  I previously replaced the stuck clutch, only to discover that the top end was locked up solid.  It is time to investigate further.  First, I took off all the extraneous body parts as well as the carb and exhaust. I removed the rear shock, so I could get the motor to pivot lower to allow me easier access to the top end.

Click below the jump for more exciting motor repair action!

Gary sent me some photos of his really nice Lambretta TV200. It took a bit of work to get it to the condition that you see here. He didn't do a full-on restoration on the scooter, but rather, did what I would call a "refresh". He painted some of it, but kept other parts original. You can see evidence of that with the old stickers that are still on the headset and tail light housing. Gary mentioned that it took a bit of fettling to get the motor dialed in, but that it is quite fast now. You can see a bunch of pictures on the main site here.

My friend Richard has owned quite a few really nice Lambrettas. Several were restored, but he was an early adherent to the concept that original condition scooters were the best to have. One of the really nice original condition scoots that he owns is this GP125. It really is in fabulous un-restored condition. You can see more shots of it on the main site here.

This winter has been really mild, even for the always nice San Francisco Bay Area where I live. I ride my scooter to work every day, except when it is raining hard. And this winter, there has been virtually no rain. So I ride a lot... but there are some times that a scooter just won't do.

My friend Andrew called me up and asked if my son and I would be up for a drive up the Sacramento Delta to a train museum. Well, my four year old is train crazy - as are most boys of his age. So I packed him up in the Alfa, and we headed up to the levies along the Sacramento river. It was a nice day out, and it was fun to drive around with another Alfa. (My car is the blue GTV on the right, and Andrew is standing by his red Giulietta Spider Veloce)

When I first saw this horncasting badge come up on ebay, I thought to myself... "wow, now there is something that I've never seen before!" I couldn't recall seeing one of these in any vintage brochure, or on any scooter. Then, as I read further on in the ebay listing, I realized why. This is a new part, and it is super cool.

The part was created out of the fertile imagination of the shop Brezelwerks (a friend of the site). You can't really call it a reproduction part, but something truly new. This is the sort of thing that Ulma certainly would have made, if they would have had the imagination to think of doing it. They didn't, but Brezelwerks did. This thing look like it is really a superior quality part, probably nicer than Ulma would have done if it was in production back in the day. It looks like Brezelwerks is going to sell only one, so bid like you mean it! It is already at $150 with six days to go, I wonder how high it will sell for?

Surely everyone who reads this site knows about this iconic photograph. It is by Ruth Orkin, and is entitled "An American in Italy." It is, truly, a great photograph. From the composition, to the setting, to the expressions on everyone's faces... this photo tells a story.

I've often thought that this photo was staged. To be honest, I never thought that anyone could get this shot without carefully setting it up.

Well, the truth is, it was not staged. You can read the background from the woman in the center of the photo here. It is a good story!

Go buy a print of this photo. It is Valentine's day, and you know this is the only scooter photo that your wife/girlfriend is going to let you hang in your living room! Now you know the story behind it too.

One other interesting thing for us scooterists: After this photo was taken, the guy on the Lambretta gave her a ride, and Ruth Orkin took some shots of it.

This pickup is only slightly larger than the scooter*. You know you want it. Go ahead, your wife won't care...

*Scooter not included.

This is how you push product to the demographic that wants a Cushman scooter. The only clue that this is a recent photo, and not from back in the day, is the brand new truck in the background. Too bad they didn't take this shot from a slightly different angle to get the truck out of the shot. Still... I'm a sucker for a beautiful woman on a rusty scooter.

This is a '52 Cushman Eagle. The second year that Cushman made this model. Note the differences in the fork with the later model Eagle on the right. I'm no Cushman expert, but I gather that any Eagle this early is going to be rare. You can see a video of this actual scooter here.

Via: CrocodileJack.

This photo must show the Innocenti production line just as it was switching over to the GP scooters.  I'm guessing that this lot of scooters was destined for the UK market.  You can tell these are the last of the SX150 and SX200 because they have the "square" horncasting badge.  You can also see that the white SX150 in the middle of the photo does not have handles on the cowl.  If you look at the far right, you'll see the tell-tale stripe of a GP sidepanel poking through between the legshield of the red and white SX.  Is it me, or does it look like all these scooters had silver wheels and brake drums?  That would make sense, as the GP's had those painted silver.  Also, note that the horn cover is polished silver and not painted on these scooters.  Kind of flashy!

Photograph shows some of German lads in Miltonberg, Germany - taken in fall 1951 or spring of 1952 . Written on back is: "German boys on motorcycles. I took the same picture for them with one of their camera's. Miltonberg, Germany. I know the date from other images of his from this trip- err tour..."