Early import of Vespa sidecars

It seems that the Swedish Vespa importer "Como M & T Bjerke AB" discovered the side cars for Vespa early on. Here are two leaflets or sales brochures from the early fifties.

The "greenish" one above should be from 1951-1952, the Vespa being a "vacanze romane" (Roman Holiday), the nickname came from that movie.

Below is a "faro basso", Vespa 125, also with a Piaggio side car. On the leaflet it says "Vespa mod. 53 med sidvagn och inbyggd hastighetsmätare" in Swedish. Meaning that it is a 1953 Vespa with side car and speedometer", although there is no speedo on the handle bar in the picture.

Not on a stamp, in a Vespa 400

Photo from the Piaggio archive.

Neither English nor Italian is my first language, as you all have noticed. So, when the news about a stamp with Corradino D'Ascanio (1891-1981)  came, I misunderstood. Stamp is both postage stamp and seal or punch. To commemorate the exhibition at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera regarding "ingegnere" D'Ascanio, there was a seal/punch just for 22th of December.
Sorry to say, no postage stamp!
Here instead is a photo of the genius, in a Vespa 400 with his grand children!

Still waiting for the owner

It's still there, only more "snowy", the Vespa PK 50 S.

Lovers must learn - on Vespa

The american movie "Rome Adventure" had premiere in USA in 1962. No, I haven't seen it. 

Leading actors were Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson and Suzanne Pleshette. A love story in Rome, anyone thinking of "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck?

I just stumbled on the 7-inch above. The hit song "Al di l'à" was sung in the movie by Emilio Percoli, although it originallywas a winner in the 1961 San Remo festival, sung by Betty Curtis. Later Connie Francis also covered it.

The Swedish single (on red vinyl!) on the Sonet label, had yet another singer, Dario Campeotto. And the Swedish title of the film: "Äventyr i Rom". In German it was "Abenteur in Rom" an in French "Vacances à l'italienne". In Italian it was "Gli amanti devono imparare" (Lovers must learn).

The movie poster is from England I think, and title is translated from the Italian version.

Bottom, an old Swedish fan card of Suzanne Pleshette. The cards with movie stars and pop artists you collected long before Internet...

My interest? A record with a Vespa on it? Gotta have it!

Strange Vespa cylinder head

Two years ago I bought a 128 cc JB-engine, a spare one for my Svalan Scooter. When I collected the engine in southern Sweden, the seller wondered if I would like to buy a Vespa engine as well. You bet! I thought it was a PX 200 engine, dirty and the piston was seized. But, the price was right.

With nothing better to do I checked it out this weekend. I managed to losen the piston after lifting the cylinder head. After a cleaning of the head I noticed that it was stamped with an item number followed by "U.S.A." and the Piaggio logo. 

So, why is it marked "USA", anyone who knows?

I'm pretty sure the engine comes from a Vespa sold here in Sweden.

Checking the engine number through Scooterhelp I discovered that it actually is a 1980 P200E engine (1977-1982), producing a healthy 12 bhp. 

An engine without a scooter, I have to think of something later on...

Funky seat on a small GS 160

Yet another Vespa for children. A friend took this picture three years ago at the Padova fair. The badge on the front shield is hard to read. Something like SBBF, if the badge is from the manufacturer.

Looks a bit like a 160 GS, don't you think? Apart from the spokes instead of proper Vespa wheels. I like the funky seat!

Should be from the mid-Sixties.

Grinding in the New Year...

Half ot the horn cover polished.

At the Imola fair in September 2011 I found a horn cover for Vespa. I think it's a Vigano accessory.

It was reasonably priced, due to the look of it. Most important, the gem was there, undamaged. 

But like other items made of aluminum, the ugliness is only skin deep. 50 years or so of exposure to oxygen, sun and water had changed the brightness in to a dull greyness.

So this New Year's Day I started resurrect the shine.

First with abrasive paper, at first with the grit range of 280, since there were little or no scratches in the alloy. After that 400, 800 and then 1200 for the last grinding before buffing the cover with a cotton wheel.

A small part of the cover's corner closest to the front shield is missing, about half an inch. We'll see if I'll fix that before mounting the cover on my Vespa GS 150, 1961.

Dull with no shine. 

Half of the the cover buffed.

Pretty much done, some small areas to be addressed.