A review of Pippo Cappellano and Marina Cappabianca’s film Forever Vespa from the 13th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival in New Zealand. The reviewer is a Vespisti (and admittedly a bit snobby about it!) with an astute grip on the current scooter craze, he notes that it’s an independent film so well-supported by Piaggio’s archives that it sometimes appears to be a Piaggio promotional video. It’s played at a few festivals, but I can’t find a trailer or any more info… anyone?
Category: History
BMW New Isetta
Speaking of zero-emissions, rumors are spreading that a new, electric BMW Isetta will be available in 2010. (The photos are all photoshop renderings, but it gives you something to think about.)
Best. Video. Ever.
Must-watch: Seattle’s King5 News’ report about Portland scooterists. Funny and well-researched, cinematically shot, edited, and narrated, and even the Roman Holiday reference seems tasteful. But, aren’t there scooterists in Seattle? (Thanks, Matt.)
Top Five of the 90s
Thinking about my sad role as the only idiot to have attended all fourteen Slaughterhouse rallies, and having a little free time since I barely lifted a finger to help this year (Thanks Kathy!), i started thinking about how rallies have changed. I don’t want to get all misty-eyed or retro or elitist, and I definitely enjoy the current scene, scooters, and people just the way they are. I just thought it’d be fun to come up with a list of five things I miss from the early 90s, and five things I don’t.
Continue reading “Top Five of the 90s”
Salzman on Scooters
A great general look at scooters and scootering from fellow (maybe ex-?) Blur rider Nathaniel Salzman. Very well written and covers just about everything I’d say.
My only minor quibble: He says (in bold, thankfully), “Riding a scooter is 100% as dangerous as riding a motorcycle. Period.” I agree completely, the similarities of scooters and motorcycles are more important than the differences, so the first section about the differences, while well-written, is given too much prominence in its placement. But as I said, that’s a minor quibble. Definitely bookmark this one to mail to friends looking for their first scooter.
“Hamara Bajaj” commercial
I was just Googlestalking someone (more about that link in a minute) and found the famous “Hamara Bajaj” commercial in her YouTube favorites. I’ve always heard how great this commercial is, but never seen it until now. Assuming the swastika at :28 holds a different meaning in Indian culture than it does in Western culture (I’m pretty sure it does), it is a very touching tribute. Now MAKE SOME, Bajaj! I stand by my assertion that Bajaj will unveil the perfect scooter exactly one month after the worldwide scooter boom comes to an end.
Nissan Mori
Another really cool concept scooter and a really good essay on why showing off “concepts,” and separating design from engineering, is pointless. The original Vespa is the perfect example: Form and function developed equally–with amazing insight and creativity–by Corradino D’Ascanio.
New Vespa Museum opens in Ravenna
If you’re headed to Italy this summer, and you’ve seen the Piaggio Museum three times already, check out Mauro Pascoli’s recently-opened Vespa Museum in Ravenna. Apparently the Massimiliano Fuksas-designed “cloud” museum hovering over the Pontedera assembly line (that was supposed to be finished last year) was just 60th-anniversary P.R. bullshit.
(See also: Machine-translated story from Repubblica.it via Motoblog.it.)
Ryan rebuilds the “Spindle”
NSU Lambretta: Bear powered!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfeuZk0lqSQ]
The coolest vintage scooter video since the Lambretwist! Still blows my mind how more and more magical stuff continues to appear on YouTube. (Thanks Matt!)
Another (positive) Honda-inspired rant
Bob sent this great Honda ad from 1967. The ad’s a perfect illustration of everything Honda got right back then, and explains how they came to dominate the U.S. motorcycle industry at that time. There are a lot of ideas here for aspiring foreign scooter and motorcycle importers (in no particular order):
Continue reading “Another (positive) Honda-inspired rant”
SE Cushman club celebrates 25 years
The Southeastern Cushman Club are
celebrating their 25th anniversary this week in Cochran Georgia. Seeing Cushman guys still at it allows us Vespa guys to pretend we’re still somehow young, hip, and relevant. Keep at it, guys!
The Ultimate Scooter Alarm
Oh, man, I need this for the Blur.
Quad mod rods on display in UK
Gordon “Sting” “Ace Face” Sumner’s Vespa “GS” and Phil “Jimmy” “Parklife” Daniels’ Lambretta are the highlights of a Quadrophenia exhibition at Littledean Jail in near Gloucester, England. Quadrophenia director Franc Roddam is calling it: “This is the best collection of Quadrophenia memorabilia I have ever seen.” Book your flight now, and cue ten angry comments questioning the authenticity of the bikes and/or reminding us that there were six GSes made for the movie and none of them were GSes.
Goodbye, Vespa pioneer Andre Baldet
Famous daredevil and, for a time, England’s greatest Vespa and microcar dealer Andre Baldet passed away last week. Baldet allegedly invented the “dealer special” when he launched his customized line of “Arc-en-Ciel” Vespas with a 150cc model in 1957. The line continued through 1961 with the Vespa GS160, and possibly even into the SS180 era. By Baldet’s estimation, he sold 600 such scooters, usually with a few upgrades and a two-tone paint job achieved by spraying a second color over certain sections of the stock paint. During the same period, he became world-known for racing, daring stunts, and endurance rides featuring Vespas and microcars. He continued to sell Vespas until the early 1980s when he sold his dealerships. A great Baldet biography by John Gerber appeared in American Scooterist issue 48/49 (The GS anniversary double issue). (Image from the collection of John Gerber)