Rare one

[Rebel]

Here is a rare scooter offered on ebay, A Vespa that was imported by Cushman and sold in the USA, it is a 150cc, needs a lot of tender loving care but looks interesting for anybody wanting an project.

cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VINTAGE-VESPA-CUSHMAN-150-FOR-RESTORATION-OR-PARTS_W0QQitemZ380177346679QQcmdZViewItemQQptZOther_Vehicle_Parts?hash=item588455f077

[FootScoot]

Can't say as I've ever seen one of those. I do remember the Cushman scooters I used to see all over town, as we lived in Lincoln, Nebraska 1959-61. Dad was in the air force, stationed there. I always wanted a Cushman Eagle, but I was too young to ride one at the time. There was a dealer on the way to school that we would stop at, and stare through the window. Saying we had "dibs" on this one or that one. Hard to believe that has been almost 50some years ago.

[jmkjr72]

what funny is that the orignal vespas were based off of the cushmans
and when vespa first started to send scooters to the us it was thru cushman and sears (the allstate vespa)
and the fact that cushman helped vespa means that cushman helped put one on the nails in its own coffin in the scooter market

[Rebel]

I had read also that Vespa was inspired by Cushman, never quoted that because I could not remember where I read it. Thing is in my opinion, neither Vespa nor any other scooter company put Cushman out of the business, it was the lack of popularity of scooters in this country after the post WWII economic boom. Then the 60's invasion of the Japanese motorcycles that competed with for the low end market for bike riders, gas was much cheaper here than in Europe so feeding a car was not a problem. A friend of mine that was stationed in Germany in the late 50's once told me that gas was pretty high in price at that time there, probably about what we are paying for it now, so scooters were popular there for that reason.

[Rebel]

what a steal, it went for $400.00

[FootScoot]

Kawasaki eventually bought out Cushman, and built a larger plant in Lincoln. They were still making the golf carts and small utility trucks late '70's, early '80's. I had a friend who is now retired that worked there. That was the area he worked in.

Makes one wonder where the other makers got the idea for the Rhino's and Mule's and such.

[xs650]

Jan 24, 2010 12:48:38 GMT -5 jmkjr72 said:

what funny is that the orignal vespas were based off of the cushmans
and when vespa first started to send scooters to the us it was thru cushman and sears (the allstate vespa)
and the fact that cushman helped vespa means that cushman helped put one on the nails in its own coffin in the scooter market

Vespa was a clean sheet of paper design. Any inspiration from Cushman was nothing more than the idea of a simple, light weight two wheeled vehicle with small diameter wheels.

[Rebel]

Jan 24, 2010 15:33:29 GMT -5 xs650 said:

Jan 24, 2010 12:48:38 GMT -5 jmkjr72 said:

what funny is that the orignal vespas were based off of the cushmans
and when vespa first started to send scooters to the us it was thru cushman and sears (the allstate vespa)
and the fact that cushman helped vespa means that cushman helped put one on the nails in its own coffin in the scooter market

Vespa was a clean sheet of paper design. Any inspiration from Cushman was nothing more than the idea of a simple, light weight two wheeled vehicle with small diameter wheels.

I'm not a big Wikipedia fan, but this is from there

Concept

The inspiration for the design of the Vespa dates back to Pre-WWII Cushman scooters made in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The US military had used them to get around Nazi defense tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) and the Austrian border areas.

Pre-war Piaggio employee Aeronautical engineer General Corradino D'Ascanio, responsible for the design and construction of the first modern helicopter by Agusta, was given the job of designing a simple, robust and affordable vehicle for Ferdinando Innocenti, whose pre-war metal tubing business Innocenti had suffered the same fate as Piaggio post-war. Innocenti defined a post-war vehicle to D'Ascanio that had to be easy to drive for both men and women, be able to carry a passenger, and not get its driver's clothes dirty.

The first Vespa was made in 1946

Sure it was a new design, but that is like saying that Henry Ford had nothing to do with manufacturing assembly lines of today.

[xs650]

Jan 24, 2010 17:18:35 GMT -5 Rebel said:

Jan 24, 2010 15:33:29 GMT -5 xs650 said:

Vespa was a clean sheet of paper design. Any inspiration from Cushman was nothing more than the idea of a simple, light weight two wheeled vehicle with small diameter wheels.

I'm not a big Wikipedia fan, but this is from there

Concept

The inspiration for the design of the Vespa dates back to Pre-WWII Cushman scooters made in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The US military had used them to get around Nazi defense tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) and the Austrian border areas.

Pre-war Piaggio employee Aeronautical engineer General Corradino D'Ascanio, responsible for the design and construction of the first modern helicopter by Agusta, was given the job of designing a simple, robust and affordable vehicle for Ferdinando Innocenti, whose pre-war metal tubing business Innocenti had suffered the same fate as Piaggio post-war. Innocenti defined a post-war vehicle to D'Ascanio that had to be easy to drive for both men and women, be able to carry a passenger, and not get its driver's clothes dirty.

The first Vespa was made in 1946

Sure it was a new design, but that is like saying that Henry Ford had nothing to do with manufacturing assembly lines of today.

I worked on both of them in the 1950s, there is less similarity between a Cushman and a Vespa than there is between a Model A Ford and an early Porsche.

[Rebel]

C'mon now we could sit here and list differences and similarities for eternity. The only thing that was said is the vespa was "inspired" by the cushman, nobody said it had interchangeable parts or something, or that it was a copy of a cushman, just that it was inspired by. My assembly line comment really is a good comparison in my opinion because the assembly line of today looks nothing like the assembly line that ford had when the first Fords started coming off the assembly line.

[xs650]

Some more rare Cushmans. Kliff might appreciate these.

[kliff]

Jan 26, 2010 11:31:49 GMT -5 xs650 said:

Some more rare Cushmans. Kliff might appreciate these.

I can dig it! ;D

[Rebel]

Cushman eagles, those have had a lot of motors put in them over the years. As I understand it the Vangard B&S is the most popular conversion now days.