The Vespa Project

Recently I had a comment from Tennessee Jed, one of the half-dozen kind folks who stops by to read my blog and who fills in from time to time for Mountain Girl over at thinkingwomanslife. Tennessee Jed expressed an interest in Tad's (my son) Vespa Project so I thought I would devote a post to that subject.

First I think I will give you a little background history on Tad's choice of motor vehicles. His first purchase was when he was 16 and he took out a loan from us to buy a 1965 VW Bug. As parents you are supposed to know better than to encourage your 16 year son to buy a 35 year old car but somehow we were talked into helping him get the car. Maybe it was when Tad said something like oh the car will be very inexpensive to maintain you can fix VW's with duct tape and baling wire. Well, he purchased the car and had many maintenance issues that included brake failure and he eventually sold the car.

He's own several other cars since then including 1980 something Honda Civic that was given to him and although it did run it used as much oil as gas. At some point he sold the Honda for $300 to a coworker (a good profit minus the oil) and purchased his first Vespa; a 1958 that needed a good bit of work. He owned that Vespa for a while and then traded it to his friend Dan the Vespa Man for a 1977 BMW that was a very poor excuse for a car. Awhile later he bought an old Mercedes that only ran long enough for him to get it home (his parents house) and then he would work on it and it would run long enough for something else to break and that went on for awhile until it was basically just parked on the street at our house and then we sold it. Now he drives a 1986 Volvo that we bought for him last January for $400 so he would have something to get him back and forth to school. The Volvo has been somewhat reliable so far.

At some point he bought his second Vespa, another 1958 and another purchase from a loan from his parents. Okay we still hadn’t learned. This Vespa he had bought through a local Vespa shop and after he paid for it in full it took another 6 to 8 months for the Vespa to arrive in Jacksonville. Apparently it was coming from New Dehli and if my memory serves me right it was right after 9/11 and it obviously came on a container ship and took forever. Of course when the Vespa arrived it ran but needed lots of work. At some point in time Tad was living on his own and had no money (not that he had any money when he lived at home) but about the time he moved back home he decided to take the Vespa apart. He had it in about a million pieces and took the motor to the Vespa store/shop to have it rebuilt. They quoted him a price of about $350; however, when the motor was rebuilt the bill tallied to $600 and my son said something like fuck that I’m not going to pay that to get the motor. So then he had a shell of a Vespa plus a million parts minus the motor and all this was sitting on my carport. After about 6 months of these parts hanging out at our house Mr. Red Molly and I decided that it was time for him to do something with it. His sister said he could store it in her storage unit free of charge I believe. Now that his sister has given up her storage unit Tad was forced to deal with the Vespa. He brought it home last week and he has been diligently working on it...cleaning, sanding, etc. He says he has a plan that consists of ordering new wiring and after he has rewired it his friend Jammin' Joe is going to paint it for him and someone named Greasy Dan is going to clearcoat it then he says he is going to buy a new motor and get it up and running again. I think he might actually pull it off. He has been really motivated to get it going. He says that it will be cheaper to operate than his car which actually is dying a slow death. Click here to see the color he is going to have it painted and hopefully how it will look when he gets it restored. I will post a photo of his Vespa whenever it is restored.

Of course having the Vespa back on the road I get to worry about Tad being on the highway riding a vehicle that has a motor the size of a lawnmower next to some big ass Hummer. He says he wants to drive the Vespa so he can save money because he is planning to move to Spain the beginning of next year. His tenative plan is to move to Barcelona for three months and take Spanish courses. That’s my son who happens to be a great kid and loving person but typically exhibits behavior that keeps his mom visiting the liquor cabinet. Kids you gotta love ‘em.