Scooter stars of the swinging ’60s

Italian manufacturers

Vespa and Lambretta may have birthed the post-war scooter revolution, but plenty of other countries got in on the craze...

SOME HISTORY: IN 1944, MANY

Italian cities were in a mess from combat and heavy Allied bombing, but the end of World War Two was nearly in sight. Italian industrialist Enrico Piaggio had got a head start on thinking of innovative ideas to move his family’s aircraft business in Pisa and Pontedera into the next era.

Piaggio understood that badly damaged roads would stifle war-torn Italy’s recovery, and this inspired him to think about the next generation of personal transportation. Taking cues from the compact folding motorscooters used by American (Cushman Model 53 Airborne) and British (Excelsior Welbike) paratroopers, Enrico commissioned ideas for the Moto Piaggio – or MP for short.

After a few failed designs, the sixth iteration of the scooter penned by aeronautical engineer Corradino D’Ascanio was a winner, packed with aviation-influenced innovation. The MP6 put the engine down low behind the seat, opening up space for the rider to step through the bodywork rather than straddling the machine. The stamped-metal chassis was monocoque, with the drivetrain, suspension and ’bars all being bolted onto the main unit for ease of build.

Upon seeing the concept’s striking profile, with its narrow centre and bulbous tail, Piaggio exclaimed: “Sembra una vespa!” (“It looks like a wasp!”). By 1946, the production version was ready: the Vespa 98, an instant success that reimagined cheap, two-wheeled transportation.

Milan-based scaffolding specialist

Ferdinando Innocenti followed suit with his Lambretta Model M, which was slightly less sophisticated than the Vespa but provided a solid start. By 1950, the LC125 had arrived, with the ‘L’ standing for Luxury. It featured fully enclosed side panels and leg shields, just like the Vespa.

Youngsters were ready for mobility and independence on a budget, and the Italian scooters delivered in style with ever-increasing sales. The New York Times called them: “A completely Italian product, such as we have not seen since the Roman chariot.”

Of course, other makers around the world took notice of this huge success, and reckoned they should join in. Here are five of the more memorable attempts to challenge Italy in the golden scooter era between 1955-65.

TRIUMPH TIGRESS/ BSA SUNBEAM

Britain’s Triumph was a bit late to the European scooter party, launching its demurely named Tigress in 1959. Utilising a four-stroke 250cc twin engine, stylish, with good handling and performance. They even offered an optional electric starter. But between their late arrival in the scooter market and subsequent delivery issues, a mere 25,000 Tigresses and Sunbeams were sold; it all ended in 1964 for the

Fuji Rabbit Superflow

As with Vespa, Fuji was making Rabbit scooters right after the war, first offering the S1 based on the American Powell Streamline. Over time, 25 variants were introduced, and by 1957 US imports had begun, although they were never officially sold in the UK. The most popular Rabbits were the curvaceous S301 and S401 Superflow, 125cc and 150cc respectively, but the big daddy was the 200cc S601. Fujis are superb Japanese quality with high sophistication; by 1962, some even had electric start, automatic transmission, turn signals and air suspension.

Heinkel Tourist

Ernst Heinkel was the father of jet-fighter aircraft and WW2’s He 111 bomber. After the war, he shifted production to a top-notch scooter called the Tourist, first shown as a prototype in 1949 and finally introduced in 1953 with Rocketeer-like bodywork. Known for its excellent quality and smart engineering, with a torquey four-stroke 175cc engine, 12-volt ignition and electric start, the smooth-riding Tourist was dubbed “the Rolls-Royce of scooters”. Various styling tweaks and improvements were made over its model versions, and the lovable Heinkel ended production in 1965 with over 100,000 sold, primarily in Germany and around Europe.

Z Ndapp Bella

Interesting that German bike brand Zündapp used the Italian word for ‘beautiful’ to name this model, but it was indeed a handsome machine with fully enclosed, curvy bodywork and a large but graceful front fender. Built from 1953-64, with over 130,000 sold it was one of the most successful non-Italian scooters. Larger and heaver than most rivals, the Bella had two seats, wide cast-aluminium floorboards, a large-capacity tank and 12-inch wheels for a near-motorcycle-like ride. The actual scooter seen here was featured on the cover of Oasis’s Be Here Now album, which may help explain the upturn in thefts in the late 1990s in the UK.

Es are good

Classic cars could play an important role in the roll-out of sustainable fuels

IN THE WINDY HILLS OF CHILE over Christmas, Porsche opened a plant that could be a great gift for the internal-combustion engine – an E-fuel formed via wind power, water and carbon dioxide that provides near-neutral CO2 levels from a petrol engine. While the initial 130,000 litres will be reserved for Porsche’s Experience Centres and Mobil 1 Supercup race series, the aim is to produce 55 million litres by 2025.

It’s not the only solution – British firm Coryton’s sustainable fuel uses agricultural waste, converted to ethanol, methanol then gasoline, to effectively recycle the CO2 already in the atmosphere. While this progress offers a viable alternative to EVs, fuel firms, FIVA and the Royal Automobile Club all believe classic cars are a great way to demonstrate sustainable fuel’s potential and to keep the internalcombustion engine going without putting out too much ‘new’ CO2

“We need more support to create the demand that enables us to scale up [production],” says Coryton’s David Richardson. “A lot of firms around the world are investing in sustainable fuels and factories, and they’ll come online in the next five to six years. It’s going to take a while until we reach price parity with pump fuel; six to ten years at least.”

This is what’s leading Coryton to focus on old cars. “Fuelling a classic is probably not the biggest outlay you’ll have over the course of a year,” Richardson explains. “Owners are also more likely to be able to afford to spend a couple of hundred pounds more per year on using sustainable fuel. You can then say you’ve started to do something for the environment while keeping these cars going.”

Classic organisations have pledged support for such schemes. FIVA’s Mario Theissen says: “The ideal pilot project is classics, because there are not many of them and they are well taken care of. We can demonstrate that it works, and then as production goes up, prices will go down.”

Having access to sustainable fuels is an important way to keep history alive. “These vehicles should remain on the roads, in the sense that they’re a moving museum,” Theissen goes on. “It’s part of our cultural heritage; it should be possible to drive them with no limitations across the globe.”

Coryton’s next step is to widen the distribution of its sustainable fuel. “We’re working with a number of partners that are well placed to distribute it,” Richardson says. “There seems to be a lot of clusters of classic car ownership within the UK, and it’s the same globally, so while we’re aiming to have fuel available in cans or drums, we’re looking at setting up refuelling units that are very much like a normal petrol forecourt.”

The Royal Automobile Club’s Ben Cussons believes that sustaining ICE with ‘green’ fuels is about more than just preserving the cars. “The industry is worth several billion pounds and provides employment for a lot of people, particularly those for whom a more academic career might not be suitable,” he says. “It’s more skills based rather than numeric, and if we go down the electric route it’s fairly clear we will be getting rid of that.”

However, all are clear that they are not pursuing an anti-EV agenda. “We want to get to a lower-carbon future as quickly as possible; just converting the whole vehicle world to electric and effectively dismembering the classic world and scrapping it all is not the way to do it,” Cussons says. “We’re not advocating any single powertrain direction; we’re saying, set the targets of low emissions and let the engineers get on and solve the conundrum. If we all agree where we want to get to, there are different ways of getting there – and none of them is better than the other.”

“I don’t think it’s the government’s job to define the technology that must be used, as much as to set the objectives,” Theissen adds. “How the industry achieves that should be left to the industry itself.”

Some makers are coming on board, despite their marketing teams’ output about an EV-only future, Richardson says: “OEMs were just reacting, following whatever politicians told them they think is going to happen with legislation. But some OEMs have sat back and said ‘we’re not overly comfortable with this, we don’t think it’s achievable’.

“They have continued to work on ICE development behind the scenes, because they know that with the efficiencies they’ve made over the past 20 years – specifically the past ten – these can potentially be a lot more beneficial to the environment than an EV can be. They know they can’t electrify the entire fleet.”

Richardson points to Mazda, one of Coryton’s partners, as an example. “It’s really on board with sustainable fuels, as are GM and Toyota.”

As Cussons says: “You could say the internal-combustion engine is dead – long live the internalcombustion engine.”

Auriol’s late charge

Ford led for 19 of 22 stages at the 1993 Monte Carlo Rally – until at the last gasp Didier Auriol clawed back more than two minutes for a Toyota win. Here’s the Frenchman’s unlikely route to victory

The Ford Escort RS Cosworth made its World Rally Championship debut on the 1993 Monte Carlo, with François Delecour and dual World Champion Miki Biasion behind the wheel of the Works cars. In the Toyota camp, Didier Auriol and triple World Champion Juha Kankkunen piloted the Celica GT-Four ST185 that had notched up four wins in 1992 en route to second in the Manufacturers’ Championship. The event itself, the 61st running of the Monte Carlo Rally, was one of the driest ever. But the rally certainly wasn’t dry…

Andrea Aghini may have scooped victory on the opening Col de Turini stage in the ageing Lancia Delta Integrale, but from then on Delecour stormed into the lead, pulling out 18 seconds on the second stage. He judged his tyre choices correctly to pull a gap that had grown to a 1m 30s lead over Aghini by the end of stage six, despite a sticking clutch on the final stage. AURIOL

Auriol, however, started the rally in the worst-possible way, shedding around a minute after hitting a wall, so losing a left rear strut and then the wheel. Then the handbrake stuck on during stage two, leading to a spin at a hairpin. Despite setting the fastest time on stage five, it was by just a second from Delecour; at the day’s end, Auriol was 2m 17s seconds behind in fourth, trailing Biasion, Aghini and Delecour.

Lancia new boy Carlos Sainz tied with Biasion for the opening-stage lead. Delecour responded by taking victory on the next stage, although he was 22 seconds slower than Biasion on the next, Lalouvesc stage. By the end of the day, however, Delecour was 1m 29s ahead of Biasion and 2m 17s ahead of Auriol after the Lancia challenge ended with both Deltas clobbering two separate bridges on the same stage; Sainz would continue, far down the field.

Monday blues referred to the Blue Oval in particular. Not only did Delecour have an off-road excursion on the first stage of the day, but both Escorts were suffering from misfires, and only Biasion could score a stage victory. By the end of the day, Delecour still led by 1m 03s from Biasion, with Auriol a further eight seconds behind.

Delecour started the day with the fastest time; could the Escort serve up a debut onetwo on its competitive debut? Yet in the darkness, Delecour was seemingly powerless as Auriol took 25 seconds out of his lead in a mere 22km stage, and another 31 seconds on the next – he was over one second slower than his rival every kilometre. By the penultimate stage, Auriol had wrestled another 22 seconds to put his Celica ahead of the Ford.

BELOW Celica’s victory was thrown into doubt several years later, after Toyota’s swift exit from the WRC.

Day two didn’t begin any better, with another spin on the Burzet stage costing Auriol 30 seconds. However, he had a plan. “The engineers told me to keep the revs down where the torque was better, but that upset the handling – it kept on understeering,” he told Autocar & Motor at the time. “As soon as I revved the engine higher in the gears, the handling was better and we started to go well.” With 7000rpm to play with, rather than 5500rpm, Auriol could begin his charge, winning the final two stages of the day.

Auriol also went off on the first stage, yet he stormed to victory on the final two stages of the day. He was still a minute in arrears, but again he had a plan. “We did our sums,” he would tell Autocar & Motor later. “I knew the stages better, and if everything was equal, I reckoned we could win.” Auriol had five stages, 134.71km and the pitch darkness to conquer to make it happen.

It nearly went very wrong on the first stage, with brake failure on the downhill Col de Turini costing him five seconds – but the Frenchman couldn’t be contained. As a rival told Motor Sport, “Something must have come loose inside Auriol’s head. He went berserk.” Having taken the lead on the penultimate stage, Auriol pulled out a 15-second gap by the event’s end. He had defied the odds and won. “Every stage I nearly crashed half a dozen times,” he told Autocar & Motor. “I hope I never have to drive like that again.”

Given the sudden injection of pace from the Toyota, the rumour mill immediately kicked into overdrive – especially as the Celica’s turbo was replaced after the final Col de Turini stage. Spot checks at the time revealed no irregularities but, of course, two years later Toyota was kicked out of the World Rally Championship for what FIA president Max Mosley described as “the most sophisticated device I’ve ever seen in 30 years of motor sports” – a highly illegal way to allow air into the turbo intake that completely bypassed the seals around the restrictor without the FIA noticing. Of course, it’s just a coincidence…

Hand picked from our current stock of exceptional cars

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Convertible

One of just 81 RHD examples of the DB5 Convertible, built and delivered in 1965. Restored to perfection and upgraded to 4.2 litre Vantage specifications by Aston Martin Works in 2011 with just 1,000 miles covered since. Presented in sublime, concours condition and ready to be enjoyed this forthcoming motoring season. POA.

1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT

Built and delivered in 1961, finished in California Sage with Connolly White Gold hide interior. One of just 75 production examples built by Aston Martin. This particular DB4 GT, we are delighted to offer, has an excellent history and is in ultimate driving condition, having been comprehensively overhauled and performance enhanced by renowned engineering specialists RS Williams in 2007. POA.

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1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage

One of just 60 DB5 Coupe’s to have been delivered with high performance Vantage specifications. Totally restored between 2013 and 2016 with minimal miles covered and in immaculate condition throughout. Finished in Silver Birch over Black hides. POA.

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