An Ape used for pizza delivery...
An Ape hauling laundry...
An Ape used to haul multiple passengers...
More information on the Ape can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_Ape
See if you know the answer to the quiz question and post your response. I will post the answer in a few days.
The subject of this scooter quiz "is a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle produced since 1948..."
The very first model was mechanically a scooter with two wheels added to the rear, with a flat-bed structure on top of the rear axle.
The very first ones had 50cc, 125cc, 150cc, and more recently 175cc engines.
Later a cab was added to protect the driver from the weather.
"The (scooter) has been in continuous production since its inception and has been produced in a variety of different body styles in Italy and India."
"Controlled with scooter style handlebars (current TM version could be bought also with steering wheel), the original scooter was designed to seat one, but can accommodate a passenger (with a tight fit) in its cab. A door is provided on each side, making it quicker to get out of the vehicle when making deliveries to different sides of the road."
"Performance is suited to the job of light delivery, with good torque for hills but a low top speed, which is irrelevant in the urban settings for which it was designed. Outside of towns, They are customarily driven as close as possible to the curb to allow traffic to pass."
"The scooter is still not an uncommon sight in Italy where its compact size allows it to negotiate narrow city streets and park virtually anywhere. In small southern villages, it is also often seen at the roadside where the load area is used as an impromptu market stall by farmers."
So, if you think you know what this scooter is, post a comment and in a few days I will respond with photos and some more information.
Meanwhile, here is your final clue:
NOTE: Thanks to Wikipedia for providing the content and photographs for this article!
What is an Ape?
ReplyDeleteThat's Italian for bee. A worker bee.
It's amazing what those tiny things can be made to haul, and the hills they climb with a full load.
In the far east, as taxis, they are called tuk-tuks. I think that comes from the sound they make when tbey idle 'tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk...'
Correct!
DeleteAwesome scooter historian! :=)
Deb,
ReplyDeleteI don 't know the answer, but I wonder if this is the same delivery vehicle in which Audrey Hepburn. as Princess Anne, stole away to escape from her castle in Rome, Italy, in the movie classic "Roman Holiday." That vehicle is a three-wheeled delivery van, obviously a modified scooter, with enclosed rider cabin. The film was shot in Italy in 1953. Do you know, Deb, if this delivery wagon in Roman Holiday is the same as the scooter you are describing?
(The movie also famously featured Hepburn on a madcap escapade through Rome on a Vespa scooter.)
I don't know, but I will watch the movie and check it out!
DeleteOh, yes, one of my favorite movies. I am a fan of the classics myself.
Deb,
DeleteThere is another American movie filmed in Italy that features for a brief moment the Piaggio Ape. It is "Light in the Piazza," starring Olivia de Havilland and Rossano Brazzi. The film appeared in 1962.
Is it a Honda Dio?
ReplyDeleteNaw, sorry! :=(
DeleteOops, I think my comment got blitzed.
ReplyDeleteIt's a Piaggio "...". I know the answer, but shouldn't spoil the fun. Poubd for pound they are amazing haulers.
No, you were the first responder and the correct one, so I held off publishing it!
DeleteThey are cool, aren't they? I am surprised there are not marketed here. I'd rather have one of these than a Smart Car!
In the Piaggio museum, they have an Ape fire truck, if you can believe it.
DeleteWould love to see that!
ReplyDelete