The Antique Automobile Club of America Museum has an exhibition opening on 14 March 2015 that some of you may find interesting.
Titled Motorbikes for the Masses, the exhibition looks at the small capacity powered two-wheelers; the mopeds, monkey bikes and scooters, that
mobilised the masses – especially in Europe – during the latter part of the 20th century, post WW2.
Whilst America didn’t quite embrace the humble scooter in the same way as other countries around the world did, significant numbers were sold Stateside of both European models as well as Japanese, and they even produced some of their own.
The oldest machine in the exhibition is an American moped (pedal assisted 50cc motorbike) from 1948, the Whizzer Pacemaker, and there is also a 1956 Cushman on the list too.
For those without manufacturing facilities or unwilling to invest fully, re-branding was popular in America and the exhibition offers an Italian made ‘Harley Davidson’ Aermacchi M50 moped from 1962 (although absent is the HD produced Topper scooter), as well as a Riverside moped from 1960 (Riverside being the brand name for Montgomery Ward department stores, who also branded imported Lambrettas as Riverside) and an Allstate Puch moped from 1964 (Allstate being the Sears’ brand, which was also used on imported Vespas).
Fans of European scooters can enjoy a Lambretta Lambro and TWN Contessa scooter from 1957, a Zundapp Bella R154 and Simson KR50 scooters from 1959, a 1960 IWL Berlin SR59, 1962 Cezeta 502 & Pav trailer, 1964 Heinkel Tourist, 1965 Lambretta Cento, 1969 Lambretta Cometa and a 1977 Vespa Rally 200 amongst others interesting two-wheelers on display.
The exhibition runs from 14 March to 11 October 2015, and the AACA Museum can be found in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA. Visit www.aacamuseum.org for further details, and if any readers (American or otherwise) visit and want to write a review for the Scooternova blog, we’ll be more than happy to publish it.
Our email address is; info@scooternova.com
Way cool – I wants! 1962 Cezeta scooter with Pav trailer.
They are, aren’t they?
Just a little cautious of the petrol tank location in the front mudguard!!