@Bragato18 14 March 2022 more from that month

Dropped off the Vespa PX200 to get new Michelin tyres. Found a gem of a workshop, Sam the proprietor is a real #Vespa nut. Was admiring a skinny looking one with the spare tyre in front of the seat. Sam asked did I know that Vespa’s were made under licence in New Zealand during the 60’s, by Airco Ltd in Newmarket, Auckland. They were assembled from completely knocked down (CKD) kits with various parts manufactured locally as required by government rules at the time. A lot of New Zealand manufacturing in 60’s involved disassembling a product overseas and reassembling in NZ. Despite the inefficiencies of production it was still cheaper than paying the import duties. The skinny model I was admiring was a 1967 ss90. One of the rarest Vespa’s in the world. The New Zealand version (blue) did not have the spare tyre in front of the seat. This blue example was purchased for the Nelson NZ Motorcycles collection from a collector in Nelson, NZ, in December, 2008. It was acquired by Transport World for the Classic Motorcycle Mecca collection in May, 2016