This is the first in what I intend to be an ongoing series. I'll post up pictures and information about scooters that I see for sale that are noteworthy in some respect - whether it be rarity, condition, price, etc.
Here we have an example of the very first group of Vespas officially imported into the US. Sears had a deal with Piaggio to sell the Vespa under license in their stores. At the time, and up until the late 1960's, Sears sold just about anything under the sun, including motorcycles and scooters. Previously, the scooters had all been Cushmans. With the new Vespas, they had a scooter that was far superior in performance and quality to anything Cushman had to offer.
So here we have it, the "Ur-Allstate". The first batch to come in were a sort of test of the market. If I remember correctly, the number imported in that first group was around 2000. they sold out quickly, which led Sears to re-order, and keep them listed in their famous catalogue. Needless to say, they were a big seller for Sears, which kept on selling them until 1967.
The Allstates were fairly plain-jane stripped down Vespas. These 50's handlebar models were all the same green color. There was limited chrome, and even the handlebars were painted. Contemporary Italian Vespas had the headlight on top of the front fender, while US regulations required the headlight to be higher up. So Piaggio made a new nacelle for the headlight on the handlebars. This would later be used on the European Vespas. At this point in time however, the nacelle only housed the light, and there was no provision for a speedometer. If you wanted one, it was a fairly expensive accessory, and was mounted behind the legshields.
These handlebar Allstates differed from the European Vespas as well in that they had aluminum floor strips, as opposed to the rubber floor strips on the Vespas. I don't really see how that was a big cost savings, but I suppose omitting the rubber created one less step in assembly.
The big tip-off that this is one from the first batch is the "Allstate" badge. All of the Allstates had an aluminum badge on the right side of the legshields that was shaped with the outline of the US. A few years in the 50's also had a badge on the inside of the legshields that had "Super Cruisaire" in script. The only exceptions were the first and last year Allstates. The last year models had a round blue metallic sticker which said "Sears". The first year, first batch, had a small shield in the center of the legshields, where the "Piaggio" badge is located on the Vespas. This badge had a sort of chevron in the middle of it, and said "Allstate". That is the identifier of the first group of officially imported Allstates (and for that matter, the first group of Vespas imported to the US at all).
This particular scooter looks very nice. The seller indicates that it was restored to a good standard, and it looks like he is correct. The scooter is in the Central Coast of California, so it is safe to assume that the work was done by Bulletproof scooters in Santa Maria. They do good work. All of the parts look good, and the finish looks great. The price is on the higher end at $9000, but honestly, this is a very rare collector scooter. I've seen very few of these over the years. For a big time collector, this is one to have...
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I was the seller of this bike (it sold soon after the posting). It was a complete bike and was restored by Tim Stafford in San Diego.