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Bob's 1955 Vespa, with an Allstate sidecar 1958-2023 Vespa Celebrates 75th Anniversary! May 30, 2019 status: The Vespa and the sidecar are complete! At the Road Kings Car Show - June 11, 2023:
At the Road Kings Car Show - June 12, 2022:
Look for us again at the next Road King's show at Johnny Carson Park! The Restoration is Finally Complete!
May 30, 2019: 61 years after I first drove the Vespa and sidecar in Chicago, I took it on our local Burbank streets.
A few weeks later, Shannon became the first sidecar passenger since 1960 - we later toasted with Prosecco! Where it all began:
The photos above were taken in Chicago, about 1959. Bob is on the Vespa, with a wooden delivery box on the sidecar chassis. The location is our all concrete "backyard" behind the family apartment at 4606 N. Kedzie Avenue. I have not found any early photos of the metal "Allstate Cruisaire" sidecar body with the Vespa. I bought the Vespa from the Manor News Agency on May 1, 1958 specifically to deliver newspapers. I had started delivering 50 copies of the Chicago Daily News about four years earlier on my bike with a single afternoon route on Wilson and Eastwood avenues, but planned to shift to morning deliveries before starting high school. Illinois had recently changed a law to allow scooters under 5 hp to be driven at age 14, so a few weeks after purchase, I add two routes of the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times in the (very) early morning. The Vespa allowed me to deliver "tons" of newspapers before I moved on to another job. The sidecar was detached around 1960 and the Vespa took me to several jobs, including my summer lifeguard work at the Hollywood-Ardmore Beach.
Two other Hollywood-Ardmore lifeguards at Thorndale Beach - Marv is on my Vespa! Close Encounters of the Ferrari Kind One commute to a summer job was very memorable. I had made a left turn from Foster Ave to California Ave, near Swedish Covenant hospital when a pulled up along a pale gold Ferrari with "flying butresses" extending from the roof to the trunk. It took many years to ID this car - clearly it was the "Ingrid Bergman Ferrari 375 MM", S/N 0456AM. What year was this, who was the owner and why was it in Chicago? The Vespa then "went to the university" for a year, in 1965-66.
Visiting home from school in South Bend, 1963 The sidecar was made from steel and had an Allstate identity plate I later learned it's an "Allstate Cruisaire Companion". The Vespa stayed in Chicago until 1996, first in the garage adjoining our backyard on Kedzie Ave. and later at my brother Dan's house on Kilpatrick Ave. Sometimes inside, sometimes outside.
The sidecar body and frame at Dan's house on Kilpatrick Ave, Chicago, in 1991 The Vespa and both sidecars were originally light green, as bought May 1, 1958. After a few years, I painted the Allstate sidecar and the Vespa red, but the seat cushions in the sidecar remained dark green. The Illinois Vespa title shows serial number "VLIM 60834, but this doesn't match any of the factory listed numbers, so a correction was expected. I last used the Vespa at Notre Dame in 1966, after taking it to South Bend in the trunk of a 1965 GTO! I graduated from Notre Dame in 1966 and began five years of active duty in the Marine Corps - in Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Vietnam (Chu Lai) and finally Honolulu. I owned several "interesting" cars during this time but did not forget the Vespa. In 1992-3, my brother Dan restored the Vespa scooter in Chicago for his TV motorcycle show. Unfortunately, a well-known classic Vespa dealer in Chicago returned an incorrect, different engine to Dan. The engine he installed was a 125 cc engine from a "Sears Allstate" scooter. It was also defective - rough and very smoky. Dan brought the Vespa to Arizona, then to California from Chicago in August, 1996. I met Dan in Lake Havasu AZ at Bruce and Colin Kimmins' shop where they had my Frazer Nash for restoration (see FrazerNash-USA.com). Because the Allstate sidecar had been left outside in Chicago for many years, it was very rusty. Bruce decided to build an aluminum replica body rather than work on the rusty steel. Within a few days, Bruce had fabricated half of the sidecar shell. The original sidecar body and its chassis were left with Bruce.
An aluminum "replica" over the original rusty steel sidecar, August 1996. After the Vespa came to my Burbank Maple street apartment garage, a few weeks later I loaded it into a U-Haul trailer to take it to the Santa Barbara Concours on September 21, 1996. / Santa Barbara Concours d'Elegance, September 21, 1996, exactly the same date as Piaggio was celebrating its 50th anniversary. The driver is the same as in the photos above! After the Concours, I took the Vespa to two scooter shops in Los Angeles to have a correct Vespa 150 engine installed. Locating an engine and getting it installed took more than 4 years! Kristian Storli, at Bar Italia Classics, did great work on the entire scooter and delivered it to our garage in Burbank on January 5, 2010. The Vespa did not have a "proper" kickstand and was not registered in California. Registration was a challenge! Although I had an 1959 Illinois registration in my father's name, the serial number was probably wrong because it didn't match any of the published lists. I scratched the paint off the serial number in mid-December 2009 and thought I found the right number. I first went to the Auto Club with California DMV forms from the Internet, but was told I had to get a replacement Illinois title. I made that application on January 28 with much documentation. The Illinois Secretary of State responded, stating that there were no title records from that time. I next went to the Glendale DMV with my paperwork, hoping they would use the uncovered serial number and issue a title. The inspection clerk didn't have much patience and marked the form as "not legible", but I did get a temporary registration until April 30, 2010. On April 12, I took the Vespa to the California Highway Patrol for a further VIN inspection. The inspector declared the serial number to be "VLIT86290", and marked it as a 1956 model. I still think it is a 1955. One more trip to the DMV for plates - successful on April 15! More riding is planned. In 2006, I reserved a vanity plate for the Vespa, but the request expired long ago. I applied again for "VESPA55" and that plate is now on the Vespa.
January 6, 2010 in Burbank And here's the Vespa in July 2010, with the new plates, next to my 1969 Alfa-Romeo. In April 2011, a side stand was installed on the Vespa - after 45 years, I no longer needed to prop it up with a wooden block!
So what happened to the Allstate sidecar, left with Bruce Kimmins in Lake Havasu in August 1996? Years of promises and excuses to finish it! In January 2017, we rented a van to pick up the sidecar in Arizona. After calling Bruce from Palm Springs, he said the sidecar was not quite done, but he would meet us in Palm Springs and bring the sidecar frame and two Alfa body parts I had left with him many years previously. The frame, wheel and fender were on their way back to Burbank on January 23. Bruce promised to bring the sidecars to Burbank the next month, in February 2017. But that date came and went. Further promised September delivery dates also passed by. Because I strongly felt that 21 years was long enough to complete this project, on October 12, 2017 I emailed Bruce a weeks' notice that we would drive to Lake Havasu to get the sidecar(s). I again rented a van, drove directly to Bruce's shop in Lake Havasu on October 19 and picked up both sidecars. The aluminum replica was about 80-90% complete.
The aluminum replica sidecar, retrieved from Lake Havasu City, AZ
My rusty Allstate Cruisaire sidecar, October 2017 Packard restorer and builder Jerry Misc evich introduced me to Tim Todd, the metal worker who fabricated a steel body for Jerry's 1929 Packard Speedster. Jerry's great car was featured on Jay's Leno's Garage. Tim looked at both sidecars and agreed the Allstate sidecar could be saved. Tim took it to his shop on December 4, 2017 and within a few days had built patterns to shape the very rusty rear part of the sidecar.
More progress, December 15, 2017!
Further progress by Tim, January 11, 2018 "This week I made patterns for cutting metal. I cut and shaped metal for the floor of the tail, one side of the tail and one half of the floor. The floor is welded in place and still has to be metal finished after welding. This means that it has to be smoothed out where it was welded in. The pieces for the tail still have to be trimmed to fit and welded together and then welded to side car body and metal finished."
January 18 update:
January 26 update from Tim: "I did not put a lot of time on the sidecar this week, but it is coming together nicely. I trimmed the new pieces that I made and skip welded them on. Still have to do a solid weld and then hammer them out smooth, then the tail end will be finished, Then on to other smaller parts of the body."
February 1, 2018 - approximately 90% complete!
Great work by Tim! After many years of waiting for the sidecar, the end is in sight! Next stop - rust removal by L&M Stripping! As delivered on February 22 to L & M Stripping with its fender:
After chemical de-rusting by L & M Stripping on February 27; then picked up by Tim Todd:
The fender - after more work by Tim. Ready to be primed on March 29!
The fender after one coat of Rust-Oleum auto primer, April 7
April 28, 2018, from Tim: "Have been working hard on the sidecar. I finished up the welding on the tail end and the floor. The floor is giving me a lot of problems. Can't get it very smooth. Trying to blend the new metal with the old is giving me a huge headache. I leaded over the rust holes on the left side and have it mostly filed out. I still have to add the extra support metal for the body bolt holes and a piece on the floor for the seat. Having a lot of trouble smoothing the body out. The old metal must have hardened with age and acid washing. Next week when I get all the parts attached, I will bring it over to you to look at and you can tell me how far you want me to go to try and smooth it out."
The sidecar was delivered by Tim Todd on May 8, 2018; ready for priming and painting:
In Burbank, May 8, 2018 May 10-12, 2018 - The sidecar interior was treated with "Fast-Etch" to prepare for prime coats. The first light prime coat went on the interior on May 12. Also, the sidecar axle threads were repaired by expert restorer and friend Jerry Miscevich. The new Timken bearings that came with the sidecar wheel (from Dan or Lake Havasu?) are not compatible with the partially threaded 3/4"axle. Bearing cups/races Timken #09195 have been pressed into the wheel, but replacements are needed for cones/bearings #09076 to fit the axle - to be purchased soon! Matching automotive color coat paint will also be acquired - red, of course! May 13, 2018 - Rust-Oleum automotive primer was used for the first prime coat; all of the interior and exterior is done except the bottom:
May 14, 2018 - The bottom of the sidecar was primered; the sidecar was set loosely on the frame. The last photo shows the sidecar frame temporarily offset left, which puts the sidecar about 6" too close to Vespa body. The wheel is not yet on the axle. Not shown: Two Timken #09067 tapered roller bearings were purchased from Applied Industrial Technologies. Old red paint was removed from the axle and a "trial fit" confirmed these bearings fit the wheel and the axle.
May 19, 2018 - The sidecar wheel was left at Master Auto Parts (Sun Valley) to match the Vespa red paint. Rick said the new paint would be put in spray cans and ready for pick up on May 21. May 21, 2018 - The color-matched red paint and the sidecar wheel were picked up from Master Auto Parts. Bearings were greased, set in the wheel and the wheel was installed on the axle. Photos below show another trial fit, with the sidecar located correctly on the frame. Sanding, filling, painting next!
September 17, 2018: Under cover for 3 months when another project needed attention! Only visible progress is on the fender - the sidecar body had much sanding and filling, but progress is not obvious!
November 12, 2018: Work on the sidecar resumed on November 8, after the 1980 Maserati Quattroporte was taken to a car show and I think it is now "sufficiently done". Good friend Jerry Miscevich took the fender home for expert attention. Photos below show it's ready for final red painting.
Jerry advised me that further sidecar sanding and priming should be with with increasingly finer paper grits - 220, 320, 360 and 400. I wet-sanded it with 400 this date and it seems only a few small areas require further body putty filling and priming. Red paint next week? November 22, 2018: The photos below on Thanksgiving Day, show the sidecar and fender after more "prime, sand, prime, etc." stages. Next - the grey primer will be wet-sanded with 400 grit paper, then a dark grey prime coat will follow. Another wet-sanding should have it ready for color!
December 1, 2018 - The sidecar interior and bottom have been painted with Rusto-Oleum "Sunset Red" and the body got two dark primer coats so that sanding would show up high and low spots. Just one more inspection and sanding before spraying the custom-mix red paint! Also, two long-missing original bearing/axle caps were found in the corner of our garage. These will improved the sidecar wheel appearance when de-rusted, painted and installed.
December 8, 2018 - Just after the December 1 report, the sidecar was sprayed with a first coat of the custom-mixed red paint; further work was slightly delayed by two days of heavy rain. A second paint coat this day gave good results, as shown in the photos below. Inspection and any needed touch-ups next!
December 25, 2018 - Work continued after the December 8 status. The custom-mixed paint was used up after the second coat. Two more spray cans and an extra pint were mixed by Master Auto Parts. On December 24, I did light sanding with 500 grit paper to get a smooth surface; coat #3 was applied to both the sidecar and the body. The frame was touched up with Rust-Oleum Sunset Red. The Vespa, the frame and sidecar were "staged" together for the Christmas photos below.
January 1, 2019 - The Vespa was filled with fresh gas (and a 5% Motul oil mix), then started following a "routine". It ran well, then went around the neighborhood on two-wheels. The sidecar frame was attached and the rig went down the street on three-wheels, then back to the garage. It seems to drive straight and a U-turn was fine. The sidecar was probably last attached to the Vespa in 1960! The photo below on January 9 show the body partially attached to the frame. The new paint should be color sanded and polished; there are the two original aluminum trim strips to be attached. On January 9, 2019 with our 1969 Alfa Romeo:
March 23, 2019 - After drying for several weeks, the last coat of paint showed many flaws, so it was sanded (again!) with 600 grit paper and repainted. Then lightly color-sanded (2000 grit) and partly polished with rubbing compound on March 29. Results are very good - polishing will continue on the rest of the sidecar body.
May 15, 2019 - Painting, polishing, waxing is (finally) complete! The photos below show the trim strips attached - a trial fit with protective plastic film still attached. The sidecar and fender are bolted to the frame, but nuts & bolts not yet fully tightened. The seat is "simulated". The Vespa started easily and a test run is planned on the weekend.
May 29-30, 2019 - Small improvements still needed, but good enough for a photo shoot. Tim Todd also completed welding on the aluminum sidecar. It was swapped to Kristian Storli for his detail work on the sidecar in time for the 2022 Road Kings car show.
Here's a video of the Vespa and sidecar again on the Burbank streets, May 30, 2021. The '50s advertisement below is for the Allstate sidecar, as sold by Sears -
For many details about the Cruisaire sidecar, see this great webpage! Updated: June 25, 2023 |
