Modern Vespa

Like many of us I'm sure, I have some regular rides I do. One of them goes by a gas station on the south edge of Silicon Valley. I often stop to fill up. They offer 100-octane gas at US$10/gallon. The guy at the next pump over was filling his car with it just before heading into the Santa Cruz Mountains. I left the station before he did and I expected him to pass me but I never saw him again. It's not that unusual to see exotic cars like this in Silicon Valley.

Fun
Miguel

Boo! I was hoping you put some in the scoot and the experience was amazing .

Cool car, see that kind if stuff here all the time but not so much in the winter....

I get culture shock-really-when I go to the places where wealth is common.
It is, perhaps more instructive for me than those who live there?
Sunoco stations around the USA often sell high octane racing juice.

I lived in Aspen for about ten years working in healthcare. Being raised as a farm boy in Nebraska, and comparing it to the Aspen lifestyle, it was culture shock to say the least. The billionaires have bought out all the millionaires decades ago.

There is a reason that Aspen Is so popular with the rich and famous. It is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. The weather is superb, with barely any days with the wind.

I call it "Aspenization" where some miners widow's cottage becomes a 1/2 $million$ dollar tiny house. Same sort of thing happened to Asheville, NC, once a small mtn market town, now owned by the rich as is much of W NC and parts of VA & N GA- same thing. I can imagine the developers watching the obits for old folks on poor mtn farms waiting for people to die and sell off.
My cousin in San Diego has lived there since the 1960's and they were forced out of town even though they owned their own home, due to taxes combined with her husbands chronic illness and her the caregiver who's had lifelong disabilities. I suppose change is inevitable but sometimes it sucks for locals whose own children cannot live where they grew up.
meanwhile in place like your Nebraska, nice old farm homes sit vacant as no family farming the land any longer and small towns once vibrant with agribusiness can't even support a local library or other basic services anymore.
Here where I live it's poor, always been poor and never had coal jobs to lose. It's timber or nothing extraction wise and drive-too factory jobs often pay less than Californians want to pay as minimum wage for french fry people.
Here many think of school teachers as among the wealthy, go figure on that one? Not to go political, but our new Guv says gambling is the path to a greater future. of course much of that money comes from the low income and his version is to be controlled by the horse racing people.
When I see a high end vehicle (not meaning McClaren's or Ferrari's) here, I know it's court day, as the lawyers have arrived.

Seems like someone did that years ago and burnt valves IIRC. Maybe someone else wil recall the thread. It would be interesting tho! They only have a few that pump 100-octane. I've never seen a MC or scooter at those pumps except me and I put in 91-Octane.

Best
Miguel

Is that just the problem?
Here in the "belpaese" we are slaughtered to consume as little fuel as possible and at the lowest prices, my car (1600 cc 110 hp 14 q.li weight) with 32 liters of LPG equal to 18 EUR full tank makes 300 km equivalent to an average of 10 km with a liter of gas.
If you buy a car with more than 2000 cc and 200 hp, the taxman will come to you ... if I had the possibility instead of a Ferrari or a Lotus I would buy a nice Corvette late 60's ... HA!

Hey Kantukckid, you're right, this will go political so maybe we can leave it there.

Cheers! Miguel

... I was going to say it too ...

Ha! Yeah I think I wrote three posts and went with the just walk away option

I believe there is no single McLaren here in the whole country.

A national super car "club" (kind of) used to start their yearly ride day from pretty close to our place. They did not promote it for the outsiders, but as the word leaks easily.... I went to see the start a few times

Not too bad: in Finland there are a few Lamborghinis, quite many Ferraris and plenty of high end Porches, if those anymore count as a super car. All in all you could easily see ~50 quite exotic and fast cars in these private meets.

My all time favourite and the only time I've seen one live was a Merc AMG SLS Coupe with a lowering kit and all the goodies.... that's a 'Vette muscle meets European design' to you Attilio

Yeah, it's hard to beat the sound of a big V8... Ferraris have nice design, but sound like a sewing machine in override in comparison... right?

Cars don't attract passion here like they used to. My only friend with a Porche (well, a SUV, but still...) recently changed his to a Volvo SUV And he even doesn't have kids Regardless of the income, I see cars being downgraded everywhere... money spend on expensive bicycles, exotic travelling and what not instead.

I think cars in general are not what they once were as a status symbol. The younger generation doesn't seem to have the same passion we do for cars and even more so motorbikes . Hell kids don't even really care about getting their licenses any more or dream about their first car. Obviously there are exceptions but I have had the opportunity to talk to a fair number of younger motorcyclists and they say exactly that. They ride for a variety of reasons though most often because their dad rode and they grew up around it. As this generation grows up and has kids oh boy is the industry in trouble.

True Harb and consider that I studied engine mechanics (calculations and design) and I also graduated; I had and I have a passion for beautiful carburetor engines but the true enthusiast likes the two extremes: maximum simplicity with fewer components or the complication but muscular, 8 or 12 cylinders, better if in V.
Looking good is nothing without the right soul ...
PS: do you know what the Lohman micromotor is?

18 cc two-stroke diesel 50s, roller transmission.
So simple and so complicated, objects like this are no longer made ...

Try living in Loudoun County Va, on a Data Center Techs pay. Richest county in the country, Median income is $150,000 a year.
Luckily I moved to the county when it was cow fields and sod farms.
Auto park has McClaren, Maserati, Lambo, and just about any other high end manufacture. and you see them used as daily drivers by lots of people.

Been in that area recently, as a matter of fact. I bought a highly desired 1987 vintage table saw off a man who lives in Temple Hills, MD, which happens to be ~ 99% black and actually a pricey neighborhood where the man lived. Went right through the heart of LA LA Land going and coming. Also gotta say anyone who'd driver such a car in the traffic I was dragged through is nuts. BTW, I've been to DC area many times before, and every US city at least once, most driving too, yet this traffic was maybe the worst I have seen in the entire USA.
Then there's the part where I blew a trailer tire in driving rain and snow @ 39 degs on an 6 lanes per side truck filled hwy coming into urban DC/VA/MD and proceeded to walk in 12" of icy water changing to spare. It was actually overwhelming how so many people stopped to see if they could help this senior citizen.
My apologies for a political lean to my previous post, my next statement is neutral!
Back on gasoline- as sales become something less of a tax cash cow, the politics will become fierce! Given that highways remain important to us all, paying for them becomes a real dilemma. BTW, teens and college students near me do still value their cars as that keeps their lives in motion. Sure they use uber but weekends and vacations they go places in a car. It's a lot different outside larger urban areas. That does not mean they are car nuts like the hot rodders of the 50's, 60's, etc..

Rated worst traffic in the country.

This is the only station I've seen with 100-octane gas. Obviously, there are others. That guy's McClaren cost ~$300K. I see many cars like this in SF Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, in situations that appear to be daily-driver cars. I'd imagine the drivers don't feel very special when they are stuck in traffic with Toyotas, Hondas and Kias and pass by a lane-splitting Vespa! About 6 months ago, there was a car parked down the street from me that cost about $2M (I've forgotten what it was but it was all carbon fiber). My neighbor knew the guy that owned it. He'd made millions manufacturing stents. I still see him driving it about on occasion.

Couple of months ago I was passed on the freeway by four exotic cars, all different. The only one I recognized was a high-end Porsche. I heard them LONG before I saw them. I'm guessing that all these type cars fill up with that 100-octane gas when they can find it.

There have always been and always will be people that can afford cars and other luxury items like this. Personally, I find it amazing what can be accomplished in both designs and function when money is not an object even tho I would never purchase one myself. They do push the edges of the envelope in many dimensions and other manufacturers learn from them. It's all relative. Some people consider a Vespa GTS a luxury item.

Me? I'm the man who wants for nothing. But always enjoy seeing just how far you can push the envelope, even if you have to fill it with $10/gal gasoline.

Best
Miguel

Well put and exactly along the lines of what I was going to say before I decided not to say that . Look I could walk in to a Piaggio dealer and buy a GTS outright without so much as blinking. My wife would be pissed but more so because we don't have the space or need than be mad about the money. My point is that to the person driving a McClaren I'm piss poor. It really is relative and I can tell you first hand from my point of view and good friends of mine that money sure as hell really does not buy happiness. You can in all honestly have just about as much fun on a Vespa (or other) than that really fancy sports car. Life really is what you make it . If you can afford to have a roof over your head, put food on the table and buy the occasional toy like a Vespa you are ahead of the game. Everything else really is just stuff.

Agreed!!

Some MV member said, "Its more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow any day." I'm not yearning for a McClaren.

Best🍻
Miguel

OK, now I'm drifting even further off topic... but this does relate to fuels

A Finn, Mika Anttonen, the founder and chairman of the board in a private oil distribution, refining and energy company St1 is an interesting character. Forbes have estimated his possessions to be worth about 1.9 billion Euros. Yet he has very controversial views and shares them openly. A 53 year old MSc in engineering.

For example, he claims that there is no point for any leader in earning over 10 000EUR in month in Finland. That's like a salary for a, say an average Vice President of something in a global, Finnish owned company. Enables you a good living here, but no luxury yachts nor ferraris.

So what he does - he invest his money into developing alternative energy sources. In a way, burns his own platform! He funds higher risk development than is typical for private money around here... heavy duty geothermal experiments etc. He does not believe that the world will be able to keep the +1,5 degree climate target agreed in the Paris meeting - he would like to, but can't see it happen with the on-going actions. Still, he tries his best with the money and public power he has.

And what he gets - huge respect from many, a lot of suspicision from 'the old money' and certain politicians. As an engineer, he has a nasty habbit of proving his message with simple numbers and facts....

I have more room for improvement in my own habits as a consumer, but I have to say I like this guy's attitude.

...to the point that money tends indeed to loose it's charm after everything is 'OK' and on the other hand, can be used as a tool too!

So, 100 octane gas.

A gas called "100 LL" is the present standard for piston engine aircraft. Any little country airport will have it, and be happy to put it in your gas cans for your car or scooter. I had a 1947 Luscombe 8 A airplane, not quite an antique but a classic. It needed less octane and more lead. I needed 80 octane full lead gas. I would put six cans of this gas in my trunk and haul it about 100 miles for my plane in Washington rush hour traffic.

If you really need 100 octane, try your local little airport.

We lived in the District proper for 3 years, and Sterling for 13 years. We bought a house in Sugarland Run in 1995 and sold it for double in 2002 when I was transferred to Albuquerque. Then, we were transferred back in 2008 and bought the same house in a short sale. Our old neighbors were amused. Made money on the same house twice. Crazy times. And yes, my 13 mile commute to work towards DC from Sterling was 30 minutes and three traffic lights up Rte 7 in 1995. By 2010, when I retired, it was an hour (at 6 a.m.) and 13 traffic lights. At 5 p.m., it was 90-120 minutes home. Glad I live in small town Texas now.

I work in a low-fee community mental health center that just happens to be in Beverly Hills. The McLaren dealership used to be across the street. There is no shortage of expensive and/or exotic cars going by minute to minute. Of course I only see them walking to and from the parking lot as our center is in the basement.

When I pass someone in a Ferrari or Alfa Romeo 4C Spider or Porsche 911 stuck in traffic I always think about how much more fun I am having. Commuting in Los Angeles in one of these cars or their ilk just doesn't make sense to me.

every time I see a car like that, I think of the tres commas club.. sorry NSFW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oV4IVy8tvE

I'll guess frameless car door windows are the gateway drug towards the ultimate goal....

I was an aviation/helo mechanic in another life. For starters, Av gas is illegal to use on the road. There are also differences in racing fuels and AV gas aside from "that number". 100LL is not nearly the same as racing fuel and not what a high rpm racing engines likes to run on. Not worth getting into here really and I'm not chasing an argument either.
I gotta say my longish commutes in eastern KY were more miles than I liked but on a nice sunny day the mostly empty roads were pleasurable indeed. One school year I commuted from home to Lexington,KY 2 & 3 days a week. After the first 25 miles of two lane curves it became a nasty experience and I hated it! It was actually mild compared to what many others live with in places like LAX or ATL. War zone vs. life as I like it.
I'll be in FL soon and Orlando we avoid with a passion. If you live in a city where they have traffic helocopters and traffic flow patterns on the TV & radio news, I have empathy for you! But I'm glad your keeping the economy booming though!

My take. YMMV.

1. No one here needs 100 octane.
2. It's "low lead" not unleaded.
3. It's illegal to use in cars on the road and you can be fined quite a bit if caught.
4. Most airport operators will not be happy to sell you a couple gallons. You'd just be a bother to them.
5. 100LL if you remove the lead, you have 94 octane motor fuel.

... when I was a boy and I had a small 50 cc scooter, my problem was gasoline ... at the time it cost 160 lire (old coin) per liter corresponding to about EUR 1.60 today; then you needed the oil to make the mixture ... a mess. Having never enough money, I got up very early in the morning and using a rubber tube and a bottle, I sucked it from the tank of my grandfather's car. As a result he was often in the workshop asking why the fuel consumption was so high!

Post self-deleted.

Best
Miguel

Your 100 gas is not what I was replying to. . I was referencing the 100LL aviation gas (lead).

Sorry about that Vintage. I deleted my post above. Miguel

or doors that go up instead of out. hah!

Limiting CEO salaries is something that's been discussed by left-leaning politicians for years in the USA. There's pros and cons to both sides of the argument. But further comment will delve into politics so I'll stop there. Its interesting to hear about Mika Anttonen. Not many like him in the US but there are some. Steve Jobs of Apple was noted to tell the Board of Directors that he didn't need more money or stock. I "think" Tim Cook*, current Apple CEO, has also told them that but he already make huge salaries already. I know of smaller companies in Silicon Valley that make every employee a partner, much like law firms, and share the profits. I was part of a company of 700 people for 24 years like that. It definitely created a family-like, friendly, hospitable work environment. It was a fun place to work.

*My niece lived across the street from Tim Cook last year while studying at the Stanford University Business School. He lives in a relatively modest, nicely appointed house, probably just a 3000 square feet. He puts his own trash out. She suspected he owned the house she lived in (she paid rent to a management company) and the other houses on the block.

Best
Miguel

No worries Miguel!

I'll tell you ... I don't like too much sports cars, I think they are more objects to show a social status; that is, not that you don't want to show that you have a vehicle that even if we like it has a visual impact on others but it also takes a certain balance.
Here ... last summer i went to a luxury beach resort near where i live (40 km) and parked my scooter near a Ferrari cabriolet (I don't remember the model) and the passersby first stopped to look at the car and then they stopped to look at my scooter (they sold very few in my area); great was my satisfaction by declaring to the owner of the bar where I was having an aperitif and i said that it was not greater thinking about how much i had spent on the comparison.
Later I learned that Ferrari was his ...

Your entitled to your own opinions of course. My first car was an Austin-Healy bugeye Sprite. It was a relatively cheap car. I had then and now zero interest in a status symbol. I moved on to more power, then more then was attracted to my first of many MGB's. Loved those roll up windows and folding top!
My list is long and does include some exotics of their day, a few that are now seriously a rich mans car as worth well over a million bucks.
As I began riding MC's in 1963 I moved away from sports cars and toward PU trucks as practical and I was always into hunting a fishing, plus I was getting my adrenaline rushes on two wheels by then, including a life long fascination with bicycles. SCCA road racing was too expensive and I stopped it fast.
Two of our three sons became bicycle addicts and the 3rd rides mtn bikes with his family. Our oldest son owns bicycles that cost more than my Vespa and I hardly think they are owned to impress anyone as the average person wouldn't have a clue looking at them, other than to notice they are not a Walmart bike.
I built a Miata wreck years ago but found it not so exciting as two wheels.
Motorcycles area poor mans Ferrari?

Sure you can get more bang for your buck with a bike than a car. I keep reminding my wife of that fact . A lot of us ride though because we prefer it over cars. I know I do and TBH it is a different experience and it's the confinement of being ina car I don't like. Don't get me wrong I still appreciate a beautiful car but give me something with a throttle please.

As far as countries and production quality. Give it time, good quality products can be made anywhere so can crap. For higher end vehicles it makes some sense to keep them in countries with a higher wage as it is easier to absorb the cost and you might get better quality. Odds are a senior German automotive engineer prefers to live in Germany. Look at Apple. Their products all say "designed in California " but very little is made in the US. I think maybe the MacPro but I saw that more of a PR love than anything and I believe it really was just assembly. I pay enough for my and my employees Apple products and I prefer not to pay more. I can only imagine how much a MBP would cost if made on the US mainland.

Ha!! I came across pictures of the $2M carbon fiber car that was parked down the street from me one day. Its a Pagani. I bet he uses 100 octane when he can find it.

It's cockpit-forward design necessitated by the mid-car engine mounting is in stark contrast to the beautiful designs from the 30-60's cars that had the cockpit mounted towards the rear to accommodate the upfront engines like the '53 Jaguar XK120 Drop-head Coupe below.

And this rarely seen 1951 Studebaker pickup truck I saw yesterday in a parking lot would probably not benefit from 100-octane gas but I still love the design!!

Miguel

I like this:

Atilla, That wouldn't benefit from 100-octane gas either!!

I see vehicles like this around my small sea-side city, often several of them at the same time as they cruise the coast. Not quite my style but they are quite popular, many fully refurbished. Next Saturday, I'll go to the local car meetup at s Starbuck coffee house and take some pictures for you.

Miguel