Modern Vespa

I didn't see an introductions forum, so I hope this is the right place to post. If not, my appologies to the moderating staff.

My name is Mark and I recently came accross a couple of 78 Vespas. I am a car restorer, and I also buy and sell cars too, but I must admit, this is my first time messing with scooters...

A customer whom I've restored cars for before contacted me about helping broker the sales of some vehicles. He has a friend who is in ill health and needs to get rid of some of his stuff to pay for medical and other bills. The guy who is sick has lots of cool stuff to get rid of, most of it being stuff that he inherited from his parents a few years back. He has a big RV and an Airstream trailer, as well as a 1980 Honda motorcycle and a 1985 Honda Elite 80 with a whopping 860 miles on it.

Of course, the reason I'm here is the two Vespas he has. Both were built in 06/78, and both are P200E models. One has less than 3400 miles and the other is less than 2900 miles. Both kick over fine and feel like they have decent compression, but neither start, probably from having no gas or bad gas I'm guessing. The paint is pretty good on them with some scratches on the side panels, but no dents. I got some pics, but being as how everything was inside dark, insulated buildings they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, if they turned out at all. I can post links up to the pics if you want to see them.

Anyway, we're trying to figure out the best way to go about selling these. My customer wants to sell as much as he can as quickly as he can to get as much money together as he can. The RV and Airstream should sell pretty good, and would bring in the biggest chunk of change. That would also afford us the time to possibly restore these Vespas if it would mean we could get substantially more for them in tip-top shape. That brings up other questions... When I restore cars, sometimes an all original vehicle even with a few scratches and imperfections is worth way more than if it had a nice fresh shiny coat of paint. The whole "It's only original once" type deal. Is it the same in the Vespa world? I kinda tried to scope Ebay out to see what sold for what, but it was hard to find something compareable to what we have. The closest one I found as far as mileage had around 7k on it, but the body was much rougher than what we have. Then I saw a fully restored one with a buy it now over 4k, but didn't see any bids. Most seemed to sell for the $1500-2000 range, but again, most of those had higher mileage and looked a little rougher.


We're not as concerned about getting top dollar as much as we are about trying to get things moved fairly quickly, but if we can double our money by me taking the little bit of extra time to get them running and looking top notch, then it would be worth it in our eyes. We don't want to rip anyone off, yet we need to get money together so we don't want to give anything away either. We're really just looking to try and find a relatively quick, easy deal that's fair for everyone involved.

I will have to be going back over there some time this week or weekend, so if y'all could maybe tell me what all to look for on these, you know, the common problems- That would be a huge help. I will also likey be bringing the motorcyle and scooters to my shop to get them at least cleaned up and running good, so I will be able to get better pics then too.


Thanks for reading my novel and advanced thanks for any help and info y'all can give.

I've only got one question. Is the giant pecan still there ?

Welcome to MV. If you can post pictures, you should do so in the "Not so Modern" section. Some eyes there can tell you more. I come from the "it's only original once" school. If the body is in good shape, wash it, wax it, sell it as is. You will not re-coup your costs of a decent re-paint.

Unless you want to invest in a few special tools, and lots of time, you might consider sending them to a shop that specializes in vintage bikes for an engine re-build. New seals and gaskets at minimum, new tires, etc. American Scooter Center should be near your neck of the woods. Again you will have a hard time to re-coup your cost if you take it to a shop.

Both of those scooters are a common and reliable model, you should have no trouble selling them even in non-running condition.

This is a good place to sell vintage bikes.

http://scoot.net/classifieds/

Or you could contact some clubs and put it up for sale through them.

http://scoot.net/links.html

I am not the best for gauging prices but good photos would really help people help you.

Try scoot.net for getting a good idea on the prices.

IMHO getting them running would go a long way to getting them sold. The "E" in P200E means electronic ignition so you're probably OK there. Clean the fuel system and rebuild the carbs and there's a good chance you'll get them going. I hope you have the titles.

+1 on getting them running, and leaving the bodies as is (as are?) if they are not dented or significantly rusted. Also try Craigslist or regional dealers for local sales. And again, makes sure you have titles, it will be almost impossible to sell them without.

Wow, thanks for all the quick replies! Here's some pics...

Red one:
http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/8-25-10_037.jpg
http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/8-25-10_038.jpg
http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/8-25-10_042.jpg


Silver one:
http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/8-25-10_041.jpg
http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/8-25-10_039.jpg

Again, sorry for the crummy pics, I will be getting more better ones in a few days. As you can see, both have windshield fairing dealies, and it's hard to tell but the visible sides are color matching. They also have the back hardcases for carrying stuff, although the lid on the red one deffintely needs some paint.


I will also make a post in the "not so modern" section of the site. Thanks again for your quick replies and help.

Yes it is. However, a few months ago somebody in some other city made a bigger one to get the record, but I hear that Seguin is trying to find a way to make a bigger one and gain the record back.