VVC CLOTHING - The Veteran Vespa Club

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"!t"'-'" '..~'_. " :-1U...~ ~O'n .frbii11iisexplo{ts as recorded in the last issue, ''PiOneer scooterist John Dixon recalls a spot of continental touring bn.his'Rq,d ,Model. An~ what an adventure it was! . " SO on 12 July I set off for Spain. Apart from Barcelona, I did not know where I would be going, but I had my visa for Spain and custom carnet for the Vespa. In those days the carnet was stamped at every frontier crossing to ensure that every vehicle entering a country also left it otherwise the AAor RAC would have to pay customs duty and then recover it from the owner. No open frontiers then! The insurance green card was always checked and sometimes the international driving license too. I arrived at the Bois de Boulognecampsitein 150 the middle of Paris on the eve of Basg.lle. Day. It was very di(fj'"cult to find a space 7 feet by 5 to put the tent up. As it was, the guy rope~-h.ad to overlap those of the neiglJ'bburs. Sleep was diffictlt with all the FrogS"mating less than 3 feet away! The speedo had already failed so I had to keep a careful note of where I had been to get my mileages right. I spent two nights in Paris doing the sights, climbing all the way up the Eiffel Tower. I fell off the Vespa on the wet slippery cobblestones, receiving a wet bum. Two days later I met a group of 6 Vespas from England at Limoges. I stayed with them at a small hotel. The girls refused to use the stinking French loos with a hole to aim through and two places for your feet. Instead, they all used the bidets in their rooms. They were heading for Barcelona for a European Vespa Rally. Low on reserves I got details from them and decided to try to join in the rally. They took the easy route via Perpignan, but I went over the Pyrenees. I had to take off the silencer to get enough power to get to the top of the hot dusty bleak Envalira pass in Andorra (totally unrecognisable in 2004!). I also ran out of petrol, but was given some siphoned out of an English car. Several vans and cars were going up in reverse, which was a lower gear than first. It was ages before I could get any petrol so I had to coast for about 20 miles down the next pass. I had a good time at the rally, with a visit to Montserrat Monastery and a feast at the town hall. Out of 1000 Vespas only one from Graz in Austria was older than Daisy. I set off for the Riviera with a 1953 English Vespa reg like 6789H and we camped near the border with France. The night was so dark and the sky so clear that I have never seen so many stars. We stopped for some lunch near Perpignan. When we came out Daisy was lying on her side. As I went to pick her up I noticed a large gaping split from near the carburettor flap right round to the rear suspension. Further examination showed that the body was split on the other side and right across underneath WC Journal- No.31 CLUB GEAR All of the following items are available from the Editor. Please note that prices are exclusive of p&p Journal binder. Takes 12 issues plus index - £4.50 WC club badge -£23 WC 2003 Rally Badge £23 VesnaftameH~~in~ service Cheltenham VC 50th anniversary badge Available from Bob Box on 01202 530591 volume 11 ~' m 1@ ~ 1...1 ' -~ ~ ,_;' .~ (If:~ .J;! . FmncsjiForcbectedOll~original~fiamcpg :~. ',mhO) . . .~, ,"':It. . ~ . . ~ As~bymikeclatkmlreYival~ I~ Wtt' I ::~ ~ ~. ~4~~,IIDIllfiame,pxmlpxk bd "","MALI ~ i ~ ""'MHAL '. ""'": ."~ 12~ m 12 .. .' MoI oIa1/irixloiJg .."..1 ~ . "'.. B '" 12 1 ",.. '"1i:! r ,~.__ .* . Why_.)OO~re-me)monginalfiame? . .~ ~~~, , .,' . . ,.. j~ . . . F2.Ii, . . ~ (kkool~wcbsitcall\1\w.\~i&Pczo.CODI Index for vol Journal 2 (issues 13 - 24) available emaiImeOlliobn.mclaujin2@homa:all.ro.uk free from the Editor orringme 0001768&96116fmlije0787963492&. Wanted: Vespa APE, preferably complete and running but 10%DiscooDtforcid! JDeII1bm any condition will do. Tel: lan Grimmett 01452-545238 Gloucester or Dave 01242-244011 Cheltenham, Sevices_Fnme_OI\dfd:FmneJ~JgJUDelllt Website: www.veteranvespaclub.com eI ! ~ 163
crass commercial,isl11 would come their way! The reputation of .the British policeman at this time was especially good abroad as well as at home - an example of national self perception for once being in synch with the wider world. 162 The obviously staged publicity shot makes an ~musing contrast with its exact German equivalent. The British bobby is doing his best to assist a lady in distress. His German cousin, on the other hand, appears to be writing the hapless female Vespa rider a ticket! The image of the bowler hatted city gent astride a Vespa fascinated continental eyes since it was assumed that people wearing such apparel were responsible for the strength of British financial institutions, and associating them with a Vespa lent great respectability to the latter. The example shown is one of many. The British were still regarded as rather class conscious, and in fact the cartoon does show a tramp picking up a dog end in front of the Guardsman. Whilst by no means negative, all these stereotyped images give little acknowledgement to the Britain of the fifties having contributed much to the arts, design or even style. Thus they provide a distorted view, albeit an interesting one. At least in part this is due to their scooter context. By this time Britain's achievements in most transport fields had been a magnificent one - be it bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trains, aircraft or ships. Complacency was to severely dilute the legacy, but that was still mostly in the future. Unfortunately the big exception was scooters. British scooters were the worst - no style, no performance, hopeless design. A national disgrace inadequately exposed by a sycophantic press. Elsewhere I have reviewed a book that is quite beastly about British scooters. But sometimes you just have to take things on the chin and accept that in Britain being a patriot and a scooter enthusiast are somewhat mutUally exclusive pursuits - at least from the point of view of scooter design. Just how could the country that was responsible for the E type Jaguar and the Spitfire have produced the DKR Dove? Stereotypes unfair? I think we may have got off lightly! AL WC Journal - No.31 .I as well. There was very little sheet metal holding the front and back together. My companion accompanied me to the next Vespa agent at Narbonne and he headed back to London. The Vespa agent and I dismantled all my luggage and removed the engine assembly and we wheeled the scooter like a barrow a few streets where a welder took 2 hours solid welding to join up all the splits. The next morning with new rear brakes I was off again. Wet butt The Riviera was incredibly busy and expensive so I continued on to Italy. I came a cropper when the Vespa slipped on a seam in the concrete road in a tunnel on the autostrade. Daisy and I slithered along as we came to a standstill from 40 mph. I got another wet bum and my new tent, rolled up and fixed across the bike, had holes worn right through. The patches I fitted later are still there, though the tent looks very scruffy now, but that does not stop me using it even at R-R rallies! I was soon driving south into the sun when I was whistled up and stopped by a policeman for going through red lights. "What red light?" I said. The policeman pointed to a single light 40 feet in the air above Website:www.veteranvespaclub.com the junction immediately in front of the sun. No wonder I did not see it. I was more careful after that to look for them. I continued south to Naples visiting all the sites in Pisa, Rome and Pompeii. In Rome we had a massive storm and I had to put all my pots and pans under the holes in the tent to keep everything dry. I crossed to the Adriatic coast and visited San Marino and Bologna. At Rovigo the big end packed up so I spent 3 nights in the dusty yard behind the Vespa agents' whilst the engine was overhauled. I had to go to Venice by train to collect the £25 I had sent to a bank there. The parts included the big end, a piston ring, complete clutch unit, main shaft bearing, centre shaft needle rollers, kick start bearing and ring, oil seals and the cross for the gear change, throttle cable. 25000 lira was about £13. Language barrier After about 50 miles a Vespa passed me with two fellers on it. A bit further on they waved me down outside a cafe and invited me for a drink. Piero did all the talking. We had to converse in French as he knew no English and I knew virtually no Italian. We drank wine and coffee for several hours. He invited me to stay with him for a few days because he wanted an English friend as he was going to work in England in a few weeks time. I was not keen, but after he mentioned his wife I felt less worried about his intentions and agreed. I followed him home, dropping his friend off on the way. It was midnight and he woke his wife to show her what he had brought home! I was filthy dirty, not having had a wash since Bologna. She went ape and tore him off for 20 minutes non-stop. I did not think I would be stopping there long in the morning! In the morning Miranda had calmed 151
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VVC CLOTHING - The Veteran Vespa Club

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