Piaggio in the Piazzas of Italy

Better known in North America for its Vespa (Wasp) scooters, Piaggio has been making Ape (Bee) pickup trucks and panel vans since 1948. In Italy, they are ubiquitous at piazza markets and shops as their size and versatility are ideally suited to the needs of vendors and navigating narrow streets and tight parking spots.

Swiss Post delivers via electric scooter

In a bid to reduce CO2 emissions, Swiss Post aims to replace its 7500 scooters with an electric version, like the one above spotted in St Moritz, by 2016. These funky looking 3-wheelers are safer, have larger carrying capacity and can go 20 km (12.4 miles) on a single charge. Photo by RLT.

Kamoo Smile

Kamoo is a Swiss electric car company that offers a variety of models for sale. This funky looking"Smile" is a two seater with a top speed of 110 kph (68 mph). It takes just 90 minutes to charge and comes with either a hard top or targa top, seen above. Read more here.

Chuggabug Tour Day 9: Springfield, IL to Auburn, IN

We overnighted at the Drury Inn in Springfield, IL, a chain that provides a hot breakfast and a 17:30 Kick-back, consisting of light supper and drinks (including alcohol). Great view of the adjacent smokestacks.
Next morning we leave Route 66 behind, heading across endless farm country. We pass an Alcoa plant and a Subaru factory before stopping at Barnes & Noble in Fayetteville, IN. This cavernous bookstore has a questionable business model. I purchase "Nothin' but Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times, and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland" by Edward McClelland. The book discusses the concepts of ruin-porn (photographing derelict buildings) and rust-belt-chic.
First rain of the tour so we stop at J D's Riverside Café, in Whitley, IN, in a downpour. Salsa and tortilla chips.
We press on to Auburn, IN, in time to tour the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Automobile Museum at 1800 South Wayne. (The change from Central to Eastern time means we have lost an hour in the day.) This is rust-belt-chic at its finest - an exquisite art deco building, where the cars were once made, celebrating the largely defunct Indiana motor industry, which contains a wonderful collection of the three marques, plus a smattering of other vehicles including an Indiana-made Crosley Hotshot once owned by Frank Lloyd Wright.
To the Quality Inn, walking to Wal-Mart for bagel take-out supper. RLT.

Fake Kombi is Subaru in Disguise

Photo by RLT

This little beauty didn't fool us for long. Hats off to the folk at La Perla for delivering the make-over.

Rare Bird

Photo by RLT

We spotted this Hondy Acty in St Peter Port, Guernsey at the Val des Terres Hill Climb. This is a grey import as this vehicle is not normally seen in these parts.

Little Ligier is no racer

We spotted this Ligier microcar in Cherbourg, France. The same company that ran in Formula One 1976-1996. Photo by RLT

Business smarts 45, 46 & 47

Photo by RLT

After spotting 15 fortwos at St Peter Port, Guernsey within an hour of arriving, I give up on counting. It's not surprising that drivers find them suitable to the narrow streets and limited parking on the island. Above are some of the "business smarts" we've seen.

Go Ape II!

Colourful Ape spotted outside the Cafe Bistro Charisma in Mayen, Germany.

Isetta

This Brighton, Sussex built Isetta was spotted at the 32nd edition of the Sandwell Historic Vehicle Show in the West Midlands.

Business smarts 43: Sandwell College, West Midlands, England

Sandwell College

Business smarts 42: Ring Events, Nurburgring, Germany

Business smarts 41: EW Tours

EWTOURS.TRAVEL is the brainchild of its founders, Kiran Rajdev and Herbert Wolf. After having acquired extensive experience in the travel industry over more than two decades each in separate careers, we jointly envisioned a travel service that would specialize in fully customized travel experiences for our clients. Our dream became a reality with the launch of EWTOURS.TRAVEL in 2006. Since then our goal has been to make your travel dreams come true.

Business smarts 38: Hot Wings Grill and Rib House

Hot Wings
563 Queen Street West,
Toronto, ON M5V 2B6

416-359-8860

Business smarts 39: Classic Towing and Storage

Business smarts 37 & 38: Target Park & Reprodux

Target Park operates over 30 Parking lots in the GTA and offers "Park and Wash" and monthly parking rate options.



Reprodux is a full service printing and document management company (scanning, archiving, large format printing, laminating) with eight locations across the GTA.

Photos by RLT

Aixam and Microcar

Aixam - Mega, founded in 1983, is based in Aix-les-Bains, on the shore of Lac du Bourget in France's Rhône-Alpes region. The Crossline [above] and Super Luxe [below] were spotted in the hill town of Mijas, Spain.



Microcar, founded in 1984, is brand of the Bénéteau Group, a yacht and boat-building company with a hundred year of history, based in Croix-de-Vie, a seaside resort on the Atlantic 70 km west of Nantes. Both of these MC1 cars were photographed at Tavira, Portugal.




Although these companies are at opposite ends of France, they have the commitment to making fuel efficient city runabouts in common. Some Aixam and Microcar models can be driven without a license in some European countries.

For more information see: Aixam, Microcar

Pics by RLT.

Three wheels on my wagon

The Piaggio Ape is not the only three-wheeler on Portuguese roads it seems. We spotted these other vehicles - but would we ever find out what they were? I owned a half-share in a Reliant way back when so I was determined to find out.

The first one was on display in a park in Sagres, on the coast, languishing in the salty air on a hot day. It reminded me of the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. I noted that it had a German Zündapp motor. After considerable research on the internet we found out that it is a Famel Tricarro which came fitted with a 50cc Zündapp motor. Famel, based in Águeda, Portugal, was one of the most successful makers of motorized 3-wheelers from the 1960s to the 1980s. After Portugal joined the EEC the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002.




The second one photographed in Tavira, similar but not the same, is a Motalli - thought to be a TR2 model. The Motalli lives on it seems.



Thirdly the one without a cabin is a Casal from Aveiro, named for João Casal, picture also taken in Tavira. The company is defunct, going bankrupt in February 2000.



Words and pics by RLT.

Bellier Divane

Spotted at Le Mans, France by RLT. Photo by Colin Marsh.
Bellier Official Website

Chloride, Arizona

While on holiday in Las Vegas, Nevada we kept our eyes open for smart cars. During our five day tour, the only one we spotted was this 2008 in the ghost town of Chloride, Arizona. Photo RLT.