In the late 1990s, Ryan Bastianelli visited a Vespa/Bajaj dealer in Costa Rica and saw the four-stroke Chetak. The historic moment was captured in the film Vespa Gringo. It’s the Citizen Kane of Central American Scooter dealer videos. Be sure to check out Ryan’s other films, including Deer Feeding in Chicago (2006) and I am hot on Oprah (1993).
UPDATE 2011: Vespa Gringo is back online!
Very cool! Back then, Feoli y Cia (the San Jose, Costa Rica Vespa dealership in Ryan’s film) was WAY more Vespa focused than when I visited just a few years later in 2002. They had redesigned the show room and front so that it de-emphisized Vespa and were focusing more on motorcycles. VCOA John Gerber notes that Feolli is THE oldest Vespa dealership in the American hemishpere, dating back to 1951 or something.
If anyone is ever in Costa Rica, the must-see scooter destination is Comotor, Don Eduardo Coccio’s scooter parts shop. He has a mini Vespa musuem that’s pretty darn good (most models including ss90, GSes, etc) and he is (was?) the head of the VC Costa Rica. He even has two experimental prototype production Vespas! If you speak Spanish, get him to tell the story of how he rode a Vespa to San Francisco and back and how he assembled Vespa Allstates in San Francisco. Then get in touch with me so the story can be recorded.
Hot on Oprah – reminds me of Michael Stipe in old Fables/Reckoning videos.
how much makeup were you wearing?