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MP3s Lost In Translation: An Efficient Italian Assembly?
January 12, 2012
SIP Scooter Shop shared a video on their Facebook page today. It is a National Geographic program clip about the Piaggio factory in Pontedera. The video has a few shots of vintage machines in their museum. But one of the views that appealed to me was the factory building tucked in the Tuscan hills shown in the background of the test ride shots. I don’t know if the buildings are the same, but it was reminiscent of those old aerial photos of the factory from the 1950s. Other parts show the processes involved in the building of their larger engines (What are they doing tossing crankshaft halves into big vats of rocks?!) and the assembly of the MP3 hybrid scooter. Not a 2-stroke in sight. I wonder where they build those? I focus on the visual aspects of the video because it’s all in Italian, a language I do not understand. If anyone wants to translate any remarkable points of what looks to be a standard factory tour for the kind of shows that used to make the Discovery Channel great before they jumped the shark, feel free to post below.
Arrivederci, Regis
November 18, 2011
David Letterman gave Regis Philbin a red Vespa LX as a retirement gift last night, and it didn’t go so well. What a Domer. Read more
Not So Innocenti…
November 17, 2011
Our first Britney Spears-inspired headline heralds the (maybe? sorta?) return of famed Lambretta maker Innocenti in a story that hasn’t garnered any media coverage, but once we blow it out of proportion here, it may send a few Austrian IP attorneys into a tizzy.
Jeb (of FIDO fame) spotted an interesting badge on the electric car shown at 4:28 in this video collage of electric vehicle photos from EICMA:
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Vintage Lambrettisti Can Love This New Lambretta Video
November 15, 2011
From the Lambretta Motorcycles Facebook page, here is a video that even the exclusive vintage Lambretta lover could enjoy. Maybe a common enemy can be the tie that binds? Doubtful.
Lambretta LN Video
July 20, 2011
PR agency Life Longari & Loman’s nicely done glamour reel of the new Lambretta LN, with narration in Italian (and confirmation that Alessandro Tartarini designed it).
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VVV: The Screenbeats’ “Super 8″
July 20, 2011
It’s been a while since Vespa Video Vednesday, unless you count last week, and let’s not. Here’s another good one from David Smith’s big list:
Generally I like to go on at great length about these, but it’s five minutes to Thursday and I have a lot of American Scooterist work to do still. More importantly, I don’t know jack about these guys aside from what I see on their Myspace page. They’re English, they’ve been plugging away at it since 2005, and this video is from circa 2008. The video’s got a good chunk of joyful P-series Vespa riding footage shot with a secret prototype Holga Super-8 camera and cross-processed for a nice vintage look.
VVV: Rinus Met Romana Op De Scooter
July 12, 2011
This video just couldn’t wait for Vespa Video Vednesday. Via one of our new Des Moines Facebook homies, Matt Baker.
And it’s popular enough to have a remix:
LML Star 200 4T for (Gasp!) Indian Market
July 12, 2011
Speaking of the Stella/LML Star, at least one Indian blog is suggesting that the LML Star 200 4T (allegedly available in Europe this month) might be a hit in India. Despite scooters’ raving popularity in India just a decade ago, India has become more affluent and motorcycles dominate the current scene. Bajaj discontinued their Vespa-like Chetak in 2005, and abandoned scooters entirely in 2009. LML currently manufactures the Star only for the export market. But that’s due to change by the end of the year, when they’ll re-introduce it in its homeland.
And if you’re excited about the 200cc Stella (which isn’t due in the U.S. anytime soon, we hear) check this out: PJ found a video of a top-secret new LML model.
“Has This Ever Happened to You?”
June 28, 2011
Eric catches video of NoHo Scooters’ Mike Frankovich helping Tom Hanks start his Riva at the L.A. Larry Crowne premiere last night. Despite what the uptight publicist in the foreground is thinking, this fragment of cinéma vérité will almost surely be Larry Crowne’s most memorable contribution to scootering legend, and will endear Tom Hanks to all scooterists forever. And I’m not being snarky for once.
Tonight is the Chicago premiere, see you there! The movie opens Friday nationwide, our Larry Crowne contest runs through Saturday.
I’m Scooterist, Moto&Go, and the Copa del Rey
April 25, 2011
Just as we left for Paris, Dawson from Hell’s Fairies came back from Barcelona and told us about a great scooter t-shirts shop there, I´m Scooterist. Then a couple days later, Moto&Go in Madrid emailed to offer their rental services. If you do ever rent a scooter in Madrid, look out for Real’s bus, it’s a menace. Coming soon: Barça will crush Real in the Champions’ League, and I’ll eventually post a bazillion scooter photos from Paris.
Amerivespa NOLA Promo Video
April 12, 2011
Amerivespa 2011 is June 16-19 in New Orleans, and the New Orleans Scooter Cooperative seems almost TOO eager to host this year. They’ve created this great promo video (that I can’t embed, and you might not be able to see, because it’s on Facebook). if that doesn’t make you want to head down to NOLA and party, I don’t know what will.
2011 Gas-Price Scooter Frenzy Begins
March 11, 2011
POCPhil launches the 2011 gas price scooter media blitz. Fine, even Phil’s doing it*, I’m not gonna begrudge dealers for milking the gas mileage argument, scooter shops that lasted through 2010 really need the business, and I hope 2011 rivals 2008 for scooter sales. But if consumers do some research, they’ll see fuel prices are an excuse to buy a scooter, not a true justification.
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Return of the Honda Motocampo?
March 7, 2011
Scooter Station features photos of a new Honda Motocampo concept, a modernized version of the scooter that was designed to fit in the back of the Honda City automobile for the 80s Japanese market. It was a great idea then, and still is, but will Madness be available for the television commercial?
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Scooter Riding Thieves Thwarted By Nora Batty
February 9, 2011
On a cool Northampton afternoon a small pack of thieves armed with sledge hammers attack a jewelry store with their accomplices awaiting their bounty on get-away scooters. Enter a fine citizen with her shopping bag loaded with what must have been bricks. The woman, seen in the video, charges down the street and scares off the criminals who clumsily try to make tracks. During their exit one of the gang was knocked off their scooter and was able to be pinned down until police arrived. Video shows that the rider who didn’t get a way was riding a Vespa LXV. A sad end for a fine scooter. The hero of the day remained un-named by news reports. Modesty prevails.
Angels Will Fall
February 7, 2011
Via Vespa Lexington:
We all know that the hot angel chicks are really digging his Vespa and his Motul 2T Body Spray.
Great ad, especially compared to Axe’s other ads, but it really could use a Peter Falk cameo.
