Vespa 400 and sidecar

Sweet dreams are made of this.
Took a trip up north with the family, managed to fit in some visits to Vespa owners.
According to sat-nav I was 3 281 km north of Cortona!
The first is a Vespa 400 from 1959. Sold the year after in the area. The current owner is just the second one. It has not been driven for some years, so it wasn't started during my visit.
Some rust and small dents, but nice anyway.

This sidecar is owned by a Swedish moped collector. When this genuine Piaggio sidecar for Vespa came up for sale, he couldn't resist it. The sidecar has the original paint and is in a fine state. It was stored in an attic for 40 years.
It's attached to a Vespa 125 from 1954.

A visit at Vittorio's!

The museums first room, only for Lambretta's!

On the way home to Sweden after our Italian holiday, a stop in Rodano outside Milano came about. I just had to take a look at Vittorio Tessera's new museum. The story is that he has bought a building in the industrial area of Rodano. Here he can accomodate museum, ware house and workshop in the same building.
The new museum is divided in three larger rooms and one small.
The biggest - of course - displaying all kinds of Lambrettas. Among them the weird Argentinian Siambretta.
The second room is devoted to scooters from other countries. Japanese, German, Belgian, French, Austrian and British makes are on display. Sadly no Swedish...
The third room, or the first if yoy use the right entrance, have Vespa's and other Italian model's. And som of the oldest scoot's, from the 20's and so on (not my cup of tea). The smallest room contains some racing Lambrettas and the two-cylinder factory prototype.
- Now it's enough. I have 160 or so scooters. It has to be a very special scooter from now on if I'll buy another one, Vittorio told me when he showed me the museum.
All the 160 scooters aren't displayed in the musuem, some are stored.
So, here is a first look at the "Museo Scooter & Lambretta".
There will be more in the future!

Lambretta Vega 75 cc.

A ice-cream vendor's dream machine!

Vittorio has enlarged old photos, for that lovely nostalgic feel!

A yellow B, the colour ordered by the Innocenti family.

Lambretta 150 D from 1955.

Bastert Einspurauto, the german luxury scooter.

An Austrian KTM Mecky from 1958. With a Sachs 50 cc.

Belgian and strange, a Phenix 175 cc from 1954.

Fuji Rabbit S12 from 1947, the first japanese scooter.

Strange, an American Powell C 47 from 1947.

The Soviet copy, Wjatka. A crude Vespa GS 1955...

Faro basso 1956 and the front of the magazine

Motociclismo presenting the Vespa's debut.

The new premises of both the museum and Casa Lambretta.  Very close to the old place.

Rare Ape Calessino

Quite a surprise! Upon leaving Cortona I stumbled on a rare vehicle from Piaggio parked on the Piazza Garibaldi. An Ape Calessino, only 999 of the threewheelers were built in 2006 to celebrate 60 years of Vespa. Hrm, it's powered by a 422 cc big diesel engine which hurls it up to 56 km/h.
This very example was the nr 667 built. A one hour and 20 minutes tour will cost you 50 euro.
New but nice!

Ancora una volta; Vespe

Some more Vespas from my walkabouts in the town of Camucia.
The white PX sits in a garage and looks like it's ready to go.
The guy on the yellow 50R is Andrea. He told me it's a 1973 model, just like my son's 50R. But the tail-lights differ, the one the Swedish model is bigger.
The last white is a Primavera 125, nice condition. Prepared to carry a heavy load.

The Montepulciano experience

This seat seems to be in fashion in the hill town of Montepulciano in the Siena region. We went there to "mangiare". The town is situated on a mountain ridge and you enter through a medieval gate. The you walk and walk uphill until you reach the piazza. Very nice!
The blue Vespa seems to be a 50 Special. The green should be a PK, vero?
I can't read the make of the saddle. Photos by telephone so the quality is not at it best. The photo of the green Vespa was taken at 21.30.

Under the Tuscan sun

It's very hot here in the surroundings of Cortona. One local uomo that I spoke with said that these temperatures are more normal for August, it's over 30 degrees C in the shadow. After my youngest son got an italian haircut, I managed to capture some Vespas in Camucia, the "new town" below Cortona.
The first is a PX sitting in a window of à clothes shop.
Next one is a PK 50 XL.
The Ape is relatively old, I like how the Piaggo emblem is glowing.
The green Vespa is a 70's Vespa 50 special, I think. I didn't catch the name of the driver. À nice restoration.
Last, another PK 50 XL.

Ho sbagliato, my mistake!

The Vespa in the former post is not a VBB. Always check the wheel size first...
The walking encyklopedia Patrik suggests that it's a late VNB, 125 cc, 8-inch wheels.
I blame the fact that the blogpost was conceived under the influence of Limoncello. And that I'm not so good at recognizing the modern Vespas of the sixties...