Doris

I pass this gorgeous little GTS300 in my wanderings occasionally, and I always get a grin out of the numberplate. The name Doris reminds me of a book from the junior school library that was about a little white mouse, and her adventures. I wonder if this Super was named after the same fact?

Black & Polished Chrome

This little beauty was parked out one Friday night, so cue my usual response of 'Oooh, isn't she gorgeous!' and stop to take a few quick photos (while dodging the traffic so I could get all angles), leaving a couple of friends waiting patiently and rolling their eyes until I was done.

This one's a restored 150 Sprint, finished in black and polished chrome. It's a nice little mod, and looks fairly well looked after. There were a couple of tiny spots of rust visible in the corners, so I'm not sure if she was a properly done restoration showing a few little marks of age, or if she's an import that still bears the fingerprints of that particular history. Either way, a very beautiful little mod.

You can see the influence of that squarish headlight on the current LX S range - still not a fan of it as I reckon the round headlights suit the Vespa's shape better, but that's just my 2c. That chrome really brings out the curve of those hips.

Italians on Lygon

Turn the Vespa into a red GTS300 Super, and you've got my current and future bikes right there. That Ducati 1098 is divine - from that hawk-nosed styling and way the angles of the body wrap closely around the engine, to the slender hips suspended over a meaty rear tyre mounted on single-sided suspension... yes there have been close up paparazzi photos taken - I have addictions, it's terrible.

And besides, nobody, and I do mean nobody, does that red quite like the Italians. Ferrari has it down, Vespa, Fiat, Alfa (mostly), and Ducati. Red is another little weakness I have.

Pretty pair, aren't they?

London Vespa Bar

It honestly amazes me when sometimes, social media sites are actually able to be good for things other than updating people you haven't seen since high school, having a winge and exchanging procrastination-facilitating links like that awesome new video Gran Turismo 5's creators have put together as an ode to the new Ferrari 458 Italia.... ahem. I received a note on my Twitter account a while back asking about a photo that I took of the GTS300 on it's first weekend out that was featured on the official Vespa homepages as the community section header for a couple of months. The tweet was about a Vespa themed bar being set up in London, with the interest in using my image as a feature on one of their walls. Naturally I was rapt, sold them the image and they had it printed on canvas. It looks amazing - they sent me some photos which I've included below, and I post now wearing a big proud grin.

I'm going to have to go visit in person when I finally get over to England for a trip.

Basket Case

It's moderately common to see these old-school woven picnic baskets masquerading as top boxes on the old modders, but I love that someone's gone and added a basket to a new LX. It's just gorgeous, so Roma. Made me grin.

Latte and Long Black

The annual Melbourne Italian Festival was apparently on this past weekend, however me with my usual hopeless sense of direction couldn't find it. With no internet at my current place (joys of house-sitting for a fortnight) I decided to just follow my nose and hope for the best.


I of course didn't actually find anything, except for these this pair of PX200s. They were both kept in immaculate condition, with retro whitewall tyres and looking at the side of the black PX, maybe some engine mods.

A couple of years ago when I was waitressing (working my way through Uni) the garage across the road from the cafe had the regular visitor of a black PX200 with a tan seat just like the one above - watching as that beautiful little one arrived each morning was one of the things that made me fall in love with Vespas, and finally decide to get my first one.

This little Fiat was parked on Lygon St too...

Piccinini's Nest

How cute is that little one?

This sculpture by Patricia Piccinini was shown at Fed Square about a year ago. For those not familiar with Piccinini, she's an Australian artist who experiments with themes of biotechnology, genetic engineering, and future lifeforms. She's represented Australia twice at the Venice Biennale, and operates out of a studio with several assistants with an arrangements a la some of the old Italian painters - she produces the idea, and other people's hands sculpt and create the piece. I've been a fan of her work for a long time (since we studied her work when I was at school and I first came across her).



This work is called Nest and was created in 2006. Mediums used are enamel paint on fibreglass, leather, plastic, metal, rubber, transparent synthetic polymer resin and glass. Some of the parts, like the mirrors. taillights and dash, are actual Vespa parts she's sourced.

One time I turned up at Vespa House just as she and an assistant were leaving, and Frank filled me in about a new project she was working on. She's taken inspiration from the softer curves on the old ET4 for the feminine shape of the mother, and was interested in using the shape of the GT60 for a more masculine shape (used in another project which I'm not sure came to fruition - a pair of cock-fighting males).

It's amazing the tenderness she's created between the two - such an instinctual animal bond between mother and child captured so perfectly in fibreglass and resin.