For some reason, there has been a flowering of ads in my local Craigslist for Vietnam-made Vespas recently. Perhaps it is the spring showers which has perked them up? Perhaps the owners took their deathtrap for a ride that one sunny day and decided that they did not want to meet their maker on this infernal machine. Whatever the case, a bunch of people have come to the conclusion that they'd like some other sucker to pay for their horrible mistake of a purchase. For educational purposes, I give you the hall of shame...
First up, we have this doozy of a bodge. The seller claims it is a "1968 VBB". Of course, the VBB ceaced production a few years before... but no matter, that's what the shop in Saigon told him it was over the internet. The photos show what appears to be a front and a back end of different scooters grafted together. The rear end is from some 50's widebody, the front, from who knows what - maybe the fabled VBB. The headset is from a 50's handlebar, though probably home made in a Saigon back alley. The front forks and fender don't match up properly. The whole thing is just a mess from top to bottom. However, it can be leaking oil in your garage for the pittance of $3750.
More Vietbodge fun below the jump:
Then there is this fun one. It is more or less typical of the type of scooter you see coming out of Vietnam these days. It looks more or less ok, but to the trained eye, one can easily see the bodginess sticking out. First, the picture itself was clearly taken in Vietnam. That is the first clue that this thing has never even seen the light of day Stateside. Note the two tone paint, the white seats, and the chrome everywhere. This is all very typical of Vietbodges. Then there is the quote in the ad: "Has been sitting idle for better part of two years, not currently running but would only need minor work to get it up and running again." Uh huh, that says everything you need to know. This thing doesn't run now, didn't run before, and never will run. I wonder why it didn't run if it was supposedly, again according to the seller, "had a complete overhaul in 2007 with recovered seats, new paint, completely rebuilt engine" and was "Never ridden". Yup, disaster teed up and ready to cause you heartache and pain. Yours for only $3600.
For the price of either of these deathtrap disasters, you could easily buy a good original vintage Vespa which did not come from Vietnam, and would give you years of fun. I feel sorry for people who got snookered into buying one of these in the first place. However, they just need to take the loss and move on. Trying to knowingly pass one of these things off to someone else, for this kind of money, is just criminal.