Delta Rhythm Boys on Vespas

I just found this EP, recorded in 1957. The first song is "Liselott", not even close to Northern soul...
But there are five lovely guys on five Vespas.
The vocal group Delta Rhytm Boys was started as early as 1939 in Oklahoma, USA, according to the record sleeve. After WWII the went to Europe and ended up in Sweden in 1949. During the early fifties they recorded some EP:s for the newly formed Swedish record company Metronome. In 1955 they performed in over 150 places in Sweden.
Originally a jazz group but during their stay in Sweden they recorded several folkloristic and popular Swedish songs. In Swedish! I myself remember their rendition of "Flickorna i Småland", sung with a thick american accent and I believe that they only roughly knew what they were singing about. They also sang in Finnish!
So why posing on five Vespas?
The record label Metronome was started by Anders Burman and his brother Lars. But it was owned buy two brothers Bjerke, Mats and Tore. The Bjerke brothers also owned the Vespa importer "Como M & T Bjerke", Como came from their start as importers of fabric (silk) from the Como-district in Italy. Both businesses, records and Vespas, were operated from the same adress, Karlavägen 67 in Stockholm. And, this adress was also home for the Vespa Club Sverige (Sweden).
So, one hand makes an EP with Delta Rhytm Boys, the other want's to sell more Vespas. Voila, a beautiful record sleeve!
But I wonder if the Delta Boys ever drove their Vespas, in the pic they're all on their stands.
The model is the Vespa Touring, an export model with 150 cc, 6 hp and 10-inch wheels - the most common vintage Vespa in Sweden. The cowls had the "grodyngel" (tadpole, parole italiano e' girino) accesory. Note the arial with the foxtail, and I think there is a Vespa Club Sverige badge on the shield to the one in the middle.

On the wrong scooter...

"A251, exhaust deflector", it look's just like the one I have on my 1961 Vespa GS 150 (below). But this leaflet are displaying accessories for Lambretta. It even says "Genuine Lambretta accessories for your TV 175", and the leaflet was issued in 1958 by the UK importer Lambretta Concessionaires LTD.
So I have to moved the deflector to my Lambretta TV 175 I guess. Can't have Lambretta stuff on a Vespa.
And start searching for "A201 Front Bumper".

Vespa & Lambretta collectibles

Yesterday I found a copy of the Swedish cartoon magazine "Vilda Västern" (Wild West) from the mid-fifties.
Strangely enough they had a collectors series of motorcycles available on the Swedish market at the time. On every backside of the tiny magazine there was either a motorcycle or a scooter. Of course I looked for a Vespa or a Lambretta and came up with this Lambretta 125 F below. Just a black and white picture and some specifications like "123 cc, 4 hp and top speed 70 km/h".
The glass is from the classic Italian beverage maker Cinzano. It's from 2007 and obviously a homage to the vintage Vespa. Hrm, isn't there a bottle somewhere...

The back of a Swedish cartoon magazine from the fifties.

Vespa 46 - Quarantasei

Mi piace! Piaggio showed this at the ongoing EICMA, the international motorcycle salon in Milan.

It's a tribute to the first Vespa, the 98 cc from 1946, with modern technology. They say that it will be produced before the end of 2012. Let's hope so!

Two versions; 125 cc with 11,8 hp and 150 cc with 13,2 hp.

Quarantasei - cool name. But what's not cool in italian...

An Allstate from Innocenti?

This is an Allstate from Sears. A Vespa for the US market, the first ones was for sale in 1952. I've never seen one in real life but it seems that the handlebar and headlamp from the Allstate ended up on the Vespa 125 U in 1953. It should also have floorboards without rubbers, similar to the ones on the Vespa U. But I think the Allstate has more floorboards than the U, three more since the U only has six.
The engine, the side cowls and the front fender differ though.
The picture above is peculiar, I didn't see why until recently.
Yes, the rubber grips are from another Italian Scooter maker, erm, Innocenti. You can see it clearly if you zoom in on them. Of course fitted when the original ones went missing.
The Allstate below was restored by Canadian guy Manwell from Ontario between 2006 and 2011. His first restoration and heavy one! There is a link to his blog on the right.

The Vespa U from Paraguay

The wonderful world of Internet. Suddenly I got in contact with the man who sold the Vespa 125 U in Paraguay this February. He is living in Paraguay and known for finding old scooters. And he was kind enough to send me more pictures of it.
This Vespa U was once owned by a catholic priest who used it regularly.
It appeared to be complete and "almost" driveable.
The fork and the front fender are not the original ones for a Vespa U.
The handlebar has been chromed sometimes, should be painted on an Utilitaria. And the saddle springs had a conical shape when the Vespa in 1953 left the Piaggio factory in Pontedera.
The tail light here is also from another vehicle and the alloy floorboards without rubber are missing, just like my own Utilitaria's. When I only had the picture from the advert it seemed like the gas tank was missing, well it's there. Altough with a non-original filler cap.
The Vespa U was sold to a serious Vespista living on the same continent.
The pictures of this U taken in daylight reveals that it has a similar colour to my own U, light blue. I guess that's accurate, compared to the pictures taken indoors where it appears to be almost white. I think it's funny that two people with more than an ocean between them, for a repaint choose so similar colours!

Memory from EuroVespa 1963

In 1963 EuroVespa was held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. A young Swedish guy, Sven-Erik from Gothenburg, went on his brand new Vespa GS 160. He managed to get hold of small jacket pins from Vespa Club Norge, Vespa Club Danmark, Vespa Club Austria, Vespa Club von Deutschland, Vespa Club France and Vespa Club Italia. He of course already had the pin from Vespa Club Sverige.
He then mounted them together, under the "Scuderia Vespa" name, on a painted cardboard as a memory.
These days he's not involved with anything connected to Vespa, so he passed this nice item on to me.