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@swiss1939 avatar
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P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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@swiss1939 avatar
P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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Valuable information from Jasper Foehn on FB (reposted here with permission) which I felt would be easier to read/search on MV than FB for the anti-fb folk:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=754875361822978&id=100019015620859

Short wheelbase chassis with small hatch
aka prima serie aka 1.serie aka corta telaio (short frame)
If perhaps you cannot see the small hatch itself (in a photograph of only the left side, for example) you can look for this: the forward end of the bottom edge of the cowl has a pronounced downward curve. The floorboard and the sides reach the same distance toward the back.

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Unificata came in the fall of 1965 with the debut of the VMA1 "Nuova" and the Super Sprints. Unificata means unified. They called it that because they transitioned the Vespa 50/50S/90 to the new base with the large engine door and thus unified production, all small frames now being built on the same platform. They had to do this because they had transitioned to a larger engine case for the 125 and they only wanted to manufacture one engine case moving forward just as they only wanted to manufacture one chassis moving forward. The larger engine case requires the unificata chassis. With the unificata molds, the pronounced curve at the forward end of the bottom of the cowl is gone. Because it is still short wheelbase the floor and the sides still reach the same distance back.

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The allungata or long chassis made its debut in the fall of 1967 with the Primavera which also sported a brand new company logo. Some production that was released around this time used the new long chassis base but still had some square logo legshields to use up, so there is a brief transition period lasting into 1968 for this back stock to dry up and all small frames moving forward will adopt the long chassis and have a hex logo except for the Super Sprints. For those they merely stamped out all the necessary parts, legshields and bases, before decommissioning the unificata chassis molds such that they were able to assemble small batches yearly until 1971. With the long chassis as you can see the sides now reach farther back than the floorboard. This demonstrates the three centimeters that the chassis was stretched.

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If it is a model that has center rails like the Vespa 50/50S/90 you can tell short wheelbase from long wheel base quite easily by the added gap at the body seam.

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Corta... raised bottom profile of the cowl with a pronounced drop at the forward end. Floor and sides reach equally far back up to the engine bolt... Center rails reach seam.

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The graceful curve leading up to the raised profile of a first series cowl...

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In this ad you can see it is not only corta but a Vespa 50 which had rubber floor strips unlike the 50S and 90 which had steel rails with rubber inserts, but you can still see all the features mentioned in the above comment.

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Unificata debuted in fall of 1965, built for this model, the Nuova 125. You can see in this pic that it has a large engine door and the floor and the sides meet, so it is still short wheelbase. This is clearly unificata.

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Even on the left side, you will see the floor and the sides meet and no sharp curve at the bottom of the cowl, proving it is unificata base, even though you might not be able to see the door side.

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On the allungata, you can see the little shelf created by the side for welding to the floorboard actually extended towards the rear a little bit past where the floorboard ends.

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(cont.)
⚠️ Last edited by swiss1939 on UTC; edited 2 times
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@swiss1939 avatar
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P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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@swiss1939 avatar
P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
Joined: UTC
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Levers changed from longitudinal grooves to vertical grooves during 1972-1974 period which was second series Primavera which is also the year the new block print badges started showing up. This rolling transition was mostly done in 1973 and fully completed by the end of 1974 as far as I know.

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In 1979 we start to see a transition away from the round brake pedal seen here...

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To the square brake pedal seen here...

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In 1978-1979 we see a transition to the round steering lock...

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Before that it is oval shaped and has a cover...

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(cont.)
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@swiss1939 avatar
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P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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@swiss1939 avatar
P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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It can be hard to spot from a photograph but the corta chassis has a legshield of about 17" width and the unificata has a wider legshield of about 17.5" width... If you see it from the back side however you can spot the extra bracing added to the unificata legshield at the top.

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This is an allungata. The allungata also does not have the extra bracing. It is a feature only found on a unificata.

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"Pre-68ish headsets are different... the fork stem at top is also different on early ones to accommodate the different headset late forks and headset together will fit early frames i think any mix n match requires alterations. This is an early one has a bulge at top of neck and neck is shorter and top is slightly different also." - Steven Pickett

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1966 unificata... Bulge visible.

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1970 allungata... Bulge is gone.

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(cont.)
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@swiss1939 avatar
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P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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@swiss1939 avatar
P208, Stella VMC Stelvio 187, Stella 150, VNX1T, V9A1T, V9B1T, 02 Sportster XLH1208
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https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=754054228571758&id=100019015620859

Vespa V-series smallframes used 3 types of tanks over the years. The short tank like the white one was used on sportellino piccolo (small hatch) aka prima serie aka corta telaio (short chassis). The tank with the hole was used starting with the unificata chassis which began in the fall of 1965 with the Super Sprints and 125 Nuova and "unified" production with the 50N , 50S and 90 the next year in 1966 after the corta parts ran out. The hole was for screwing down the swing saddle if you had a solo seat. On a small hatch, the hole is in the frame itself. This tank with the hole also fits in the allungata chassis that came with the debut of the Primavera in fall of 1967. You can see that the tank with the hole is the same length as the tank with the depression in the second pic below. All models adopted the allungata chassis by the end of the next year in 1968 except the Super Sprints because they stamped out those pieces ahead of time for small batches that would continue to be assembled until 1971. Of special note, the square badge legshields lasted longer than the unificata bases, so you can find allungata with square badges during the transition time. These rolling changes are typical of Piaggio production. The final tank that had a depression where the hole was rolled out in 1974, having discontinued the holes because solo saddles were no longer an option. To sum up: the two long tanks are interchangeable but the short one is not.

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First series... divot at the end allows for access to the hole in the frame for screwing down a swing saddle.

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"From 1966 style"

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Corta chassis... the tank had less capacity due to a cross brace across the top of the frame at the front end of the tank as seen in this picture.

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Here you can see the hole in the cross member where the swing saddle would screw down...

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Better view..

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"For most of 1974 the tank is like the first series, it still has 3 holes for mounting the single-seater saddle, then the new tank arrives, as on all the small body, without these holes anymore."

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"...all the smallframes up to 1975 mount the tank with three threaded holes on which to mount both the flat metal rack and the triangular saddle!
The triangular saddle was standard up to 1965 even if already from 1964 the customers asked for the long one that was more comfortable, on the following unificata series, however, a tank was mounted that allowed the installation of triangular saddles, even if they were not never supplied as standard again, this explains the reason for those strange holes on the tanks of the 50 specials and 50R." ... "In 1968 the "special type single humpback saddle" was far to come, there were still only the AQUILA saddles with the AQUILA plate made in Italy for the 50-ini and AQUILA Continentale for the large ones, the single-seater hump saddle was actually mounted with stamping Piaggio for the first time in 1969 on the new square headlight model called "Special", so only the "elongated" 50Ns from 1969 fitted it, indeed from then on all the 50 models without distinction, before they had a long AQUILA saddle without writing but with metal plate and without belt."

"From what I know, the "triangle" is only fitted to those with a small engine hatch, the others a long one. Then I heard around that those from 69 onwards (to be honest all 50 produced from 69) mount the hump with Piaggio written on them." ... "The triangular single-seat saddle was also mounted on the "large" door N, however (indicatively) until the beginning of '67 when the body lengthened and became unified. The long two-seater seat was optional for the N and standard for the L."

"...reading in other forums I discovered that between 68 and 69 Piaggio began to brand the "PIAGGIO" saddles"

"Well, by "gobbino" saddle we mean the single-seater, let's say the 50 Special.
The Vespa 50 L, on the other hand, was the only Vespa 50 to be supplied as standard with the long two-seater saddle." ... "We specify ... the 50 luxury depending on the year mounts both long saddle without belt with plate quila made in italy, and the gobbino one, in fact since 1969, the year of the debut of the special first series, the whole range of 50 mounts single-seat hump saddle with PIAGGIO screen printing, in fact this also happens for large frame saddles, for agreements I imagine made between the eagle saddles and Piaggio, therefore pre 1969 AQUILA plate from 1969 screen printing Piaggio and on the small hump, ergo if your L it is dated 69 and originally mounted the special type gobbino."

"The saddle, already in 69, had been replaced as standard by the humped one. You can mount the long one at your discretion if you like, but to be precise at the time they no longer supplied those without straps with an Aquila plate made in Italy"

"The NEW 125 did not have the single saddle in real even though everyone offers it mono, ergo the new covered spring saddle must necessarily belong to a 50cc, yet preserved I never got the 64-65 with the single saddle, but still true that not many have arrived and happened in my hands and all had been remodeled over the years, so I believe that old 125N long saddles have been applied later on the 50cc instead of the mono-saddle, they were precisely the years in which the Vespa whichever one it was carrying well more than one or two people, being estimated for this load capacity, albeit out of the norm.
Therefore, making more deductions than holy writings, the long series will be practically standard starting from 66-67 and from 67 it will be replaced by the new hunchback .... (special from 69).
We will therefore and most likely (correct me if I'm wrong):
63 single split saddle with 4 bolts.
64-65 single saddle with covered spring (like NEW 125 ??? I don't think so but let's postpone it), even if the long saddle type 125N was common.
66-67 AQUILA long saddle made in Italy
from 67 to 1982 hunchback PIAGGIO screen printing"
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Vespas 1964 GS160, 1965 SS180, 1977 V9A1T, 1983 PX150E
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Vespas 1964 GS160, 1965 SS180, 1977 V9A1T, 1983 PX150E
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Great information!
@geeklion avatar
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The Dude
Too Many piles of Junk that need too much work and too much money
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Location: PNW from LBC
 
The Dude
@geeklion avatar
Too Many piles of Junk that need too much work and too much money
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Posts: 2037
Location: PNW from LBC
UTC quote
Great info. Jasper has a great wealth of knowledge for all things smallframe! Thanks for taking the time to repost here.
@hjo avatar
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Molto Verboso
Scattered remnants of (two!) 1974 Rallys
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Location: San Francisco, CA
 
Molto Verboso
@hjo avatar
Scattered remnants of (two!) 1974 Rallys
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Posts: 1847
Location: San Francisco, CA
UTC quote
This thread is amazing.
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