Her Story
Overview of the story | Sold on 20. May 1948 |
Sold as second hand on 28. June 1950 | |
Exchange on July 1951 | |
1955 the Vespa was put away |
Her story in details
My Vespa is a Vespa 98 (4. serie).
Thanks to the "Generalstab of Truppen" in Switzerland I know the story
of my Vespa, even better I was able to speak to the man who owned that Vespa 53 years
ago ! He gave me some photos from 1950 with my Vespa.
That Vespa was produced for Switzerland, that's the reason
why the engine has originally 125 ccm. I guess that was because of the mountains.
The Vespa was sold by the "Gebrueder
Luescher" in Niederurnen (canton Glarus).
The first owner
The first owner was a priest form St. Gallenkappel who bought her in May 1948.
It's normal, that this Vespa was sold only sold in 1948, because she was produced
in autumn 1947, but she has to be exported to Switzerland (in winter 1947). But in
winter nobody would buy a scooter.
Anyway, the first registration was on 20th May 1948. The priest never had problems
with it, except once.
After two years the priest exchanged the Vespa for a brand-new a Vespa V11, which
had shock absorbers in front and back. He was very pleased with the comfort of his
new Vespa. The priest died sometimes after 1970.
The Vespa 98 went back to the Piaggiodealer in Niederurnen. He sold that model now second hand. The price was CHF. 900.-
The second owner
On the 28. June 1950 Mr. Noser bought her. He had the license number GL 461. He saw
Vespas all the time and he saved money to buy one. He wasn't very rich, but he could
afford that scooter, which at time not everybody could do. Read here the complete
story of Mr. Noser. In summer 1951 Mr. Noser built his own house. The bricklayer,
Mr. Landolt was very pleased with the Vespa. They decided to make a deal. Mr. Noser
gave the bricklayer the Vespa as a part of money for building the house. I spoke
to Mr. Noser recently and he gave my some original pictures with my Vespa from 1950
!!
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Mr. Noser and his wife 1950 |
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Baker Müller and his wife 1950 |
The third owner
On July 1951, Mr. Landolt registered the Vespa in his name. He also took the
license number GL 461. He was the owner of a bricklayer company. At this time he
had only a bicycle and the Vespa. He used the Vespa for work. At this time, the Vespa
suffered at lot. He often transported two bags of cement (one in the front
and one on the back) with the Vespa. But he never had problem with her, he was only
forced to change the clutch from time to time. He used the Vespa until 1955. Than when he bought
his first car and put the Vespa away. After 1955 the trace of the Vespa was lost,
but it's sure, that the Vespa was never used again. Evidence for that is the good
condition and more important, the two brackets for holding the license number in the front. After 1955,
the use of this front number was not allowed longer and the brackets had to been
removed.
The store "Gebrueder Luescher"
The store was founded in 1936 by Werner Luescher and his brother. They sold BMW,
Triumph and of course Vespas.
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The store of " Gebrueder Luescher" in 1950. In front a Vespa 98 (maybe mine?) |
Vespaclub Glarus
1950 the Vespaclub from Glarus had a lot of members. If somebody knows more about
this club, please mail it to me!
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Vesparide, summer 1950 |
The problems of the
priest
Once in summer the priest forgot to close the fuel tap. After that the Vespa
didn't run. He called the mechanic Mr. Luescher who visited him the next day fixing
that problem which meant screwing out the spark plug and drying the cylinder. To
thank the mechanic the priest cooked potatoes and sausages. They drank also "some
red wine"
Problems with to clutch
The early clutch used by Piaggio were made of cork pads. If you used the clutch too
often, they became too hot and burned. I asked Mr. Luescher senior if they had any
troubles with these early scooters. He told me never, except with the clutches. At
that time the engines weren't so strong but people often traveled in twos. Because
the roads were steep, people often used the clutches to prevent the engine dying
going uphill.
License number in the front
That was a typical Swiss thing. The authorities said, that every motorbike
has to have two numberplates, one in the front, another on the back. According to
my information (please mail me if you know more) the law was published in 1925. From
than, a lot of accidents happen and often the front numberplate was like a knife
cutting into victims. The first change was that the front numberplates had to be
in a frame to decrease the risk. But finally in 1955, it was no longer allowed to
have that numberplate in the front. All the brackets of vehicles, that have been
longer on the streets, had been removed and were replaced by two chrome covers.
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A Vespa with sidecar (ca. 1953) Nuberplate NW 561 |
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Original front numberplate from the 40ties |