Oh, we were wrong about the Buddy, it sucks. So says America’s Scooter Authority, Smart Money. In other Smart Money news, the Honda Accord sucks when you compare it to a Land Rover, a Porsche Cayenne, an Audi A6, and a Unimog.
Category: Vespa
Joey, do you like Gladiator movies?
Sfidatela? WTF?
Aussies: goodbye PX, hello $10K MP3
The Courier-Mail in Australia reports Piaggio has shipped their last containerload of Vespa PX scooters to Australia. We reported that Vespa PX production effectively ended in December, 2006, though the U.S. received 2007 models (likely manufactured in 2006) and a 30th-anniversary limited edition of 1000 white PXes was released last October in Europe. It’s unclear whether the anniversary and Aussie-market PXes were leftover stock from the 2006 batch, or a later production run.
Also from that story: after a recent AU$1000 price drop, the price of an MP3 250 in Australia is close to US$10,000. I’ll never complain about U.S. scooter prices again.
GTS 250 Super to U.S.?
The talk on Modern Vespa suggests the U.S. will get a Vespa GTS 250 Super, and not the 300, though it may eventually come. (thanks for the link, John!) Since the early days of the Vespa, Piaggio’s often brought popular models to the U.S. long after they’d become old news in Europe. Sure, our requirements are different and our market is smaller, but after Colaninno’s pre-IPO talk of making America a top priority, it still feels like we’re getting Piaggio’s leftovers. Most Piaggio dealers report that popular bikes in popular colors are barely trickling in, while PiaggioUSA tries to dump older and less-desirable models.
Scooter shortage?
Not to exacerbate this scooter-buying frenzy, but U.S. scooter reserves appear to be running low. Here are some things I’ve heard lately, from various sources:
Continue reading “Scooter shortage?”
Amerivespa 2008 registration open
Amerivespa 2008 in Chattanooga, TN, is now open for registration. Amerivespa is the Vespa Club of America’s national rally, I’ve been the last three years (Cleveland, Denver, and Seattle) and it’s been fantastic. Events include several rides (including the legendary Deal’s Gap “Dragon,”), a river cruise, a concours and gymkhana, a pub crawl, a vendor area/swap meet, raffles, and an awards banquet, plus much more. If you’re going, be sure to preregister, it seems expensive, but it’s worth it. (The cruise and banquet, for instance, fill up quickly, and generally aren’t included in the [higher] day-of-event registration fee). Of course, it’s cheaper if you’re a VCOA member, and you’ll get four issues of VCOA’s fantastic American Scooterist. The rally (and the VCOA) welcomes all scooterists, new and old, modern and vintage, and it’s a really friendly atmosphere* to make new friends.
*Aside from that one guy.
“Wheels” on the Vespa S
Dan at the New York Times’ “Wheels” blog takes the Vespa S for a spin and gives it a good, honest assessment. I’m digging “Wheels,” (and not only because Dan’s linked to us a few times lately).
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.)
Piaggio USA names new PR firm
Looks like Piaggio USA won’t have Access Communications to kick around anymore. Hard to believe anyone could be worse than CooperKatz, who botched the “Vespa Blogs” idea, but you’ve also gotta wonder why the current glut of scooter stories are practically ignoring Piaggio products to talk about the 100mpg Buddy. Oh, wait we just answered our own question there. Anyway, if Brandware can increase the Vespa’s fuel efficiency*, lower the price, and improve the parts supply, and give dealers more realistic terms and margins… Good luck, Brandware.
*Place your bets on the exact date Vespa’s fuel efficiency rating is ‘recalculated’ to be more competitive with other scooters. (Alternately, guess how long it takes before the hybrid MP3 becomes the centerpiece of their campaign, despite the fact that $10/gallon gas wouldn’t drive an American to buy an $8000 hybrid three-wheeled scooter.)
Piaggio stock drops
It’s always the day after a new product release, right? Piaggio’s stock dropped 2.8 percent after an announcement that the company’s quarterly profit was down 21%. Bobby C. tempered the announcement with plans for a stock buyback, and promised Piaggio’s gas/electric hybrid MP3 will be released in October this year (Piaggio unveiled the prototype hybrid MP3 last July).
“Total Cost of Ownership”
Related to the the last story: Justin’s Vespa LX150 Total Cost of Ownership. His situation is perhaps not entirely typical, but if you’re putting a few thousand miles a year on your scooter, you could expect similar expenses. Thanks for sharing, Justin!
Vespa GTS 300 Super
More GTS 300 Super photos in the 2sb Gallery. (Photos courtesy of Piaggio)
We’d long heard the rumors a 300cc Vespa GTS was on the way. That was big news in itself, 300cc is the biggest displacement ever offered by Vespa since its inception in 1946. At first glance, the body looks “retro-fied” like the recent LX-Special, but on closer inspection, the only differences appear to be a new (and arguably less retro) “horncast” (what was a light on the GTS is now an “air intake”), a slimmer taillight, grey beaded trim on the seat, and GS-style louvers in the left cowl. The louvers and grey trim alone go a long way toward emulating a vintage Vespa and making the bike stand out from the “run of the mill” 250cc version. Continue reading “Vespa GTS 300 Super”
Econo in Windsor
Rover Eric sent us this clipping from Windsor, OT’s “WAMM” magazine, featuring an interview with his clubmate Otto Buj. There’s a lot of stretching of the truth involved in a lot of the ecology, economy, and style arguments out there, but Otto insists that if economy is your chief goal, nothing beats a cheapo fourth-hand Italian postal Vespa.
Huuuugs! Achewood Vespa for sale!
OMG OMG OMG! I heart Achewood. I heart scooters. I’ve been lusting after this Vespa Rally that Chris Onstad painted for years. Now, that very scooter is for sale in the scoot.net classifieds, and it’s going to pretty much take everything I’ve got to not call the dude. Thanks a lot, Matt.
A personal note to dude selling the bike: Please send me more photos, and then tell me it’s already been sold so I can stop thinking about it. Then post it on eBay Platinum Reserve where it belongs.
Lespa patch on eBay
Just found this beauty on eBay. As my coworker Sarah would say, Dub Tiff?