Scooterfest history lesson
Posted October 23rd, 2006 by Andrew G
I got chatting to a gentleman by the the name of Jack Christie (sorry if I got that wrong) at scooterfest who was the general manager of Airco (the company that assembled Vespas in NZ) in the 1950's. This scoot may have been one assembled in his time at the helm. For the record, the local content quota was 20% which included labour, Dunlop tyres, seat, a locally manufactured rear rack and a large windscreen. Although they were all badged "Douglas" through this period (because Douglas had the rights for the British empire) they actually came from the Piaggio factory in Italy. The only thing that came from Britain was the invoice. They were assembled in a warehouse in Durham street, Auckland, along side fridges and washing machines and then sold by a dealer in Newmarket. A nice bit of NZ history at Scooterfest.
That's what it's all about - keeping history alive.
Was pretty special meeting him, a nice surprise. So my dougie is from Italy after all... and the 152 in this picture - can't remember owner's name, was it Shane?
Book 'em Dan-O!
Funny as, it looks so diffrent pulled out from all the rubbish in shaneOs shed, Weres the bong gone ? ha ha
he is sitting on a wealth of information that should be shared. Kevin was telling me last night that there is a very grey scale understanding of Airco's place in scooter history. Be a good addition potentially to Robins Video.
http://www.rally.lambretta.co.nz/
Sorry Matt. I didn't get his contact details but he should be easy enough to track down. After leaving Airco he went on to become the CEO of Tisco. A little bit of digging on the net and I think I found details on the right person. J.B Christie ex-chamber of commerce, MBE for services to manufacturing......There is a J.B Christie in the phone book in Parnell. I would say that he would be happy to pass on his wealth of knowledge from the period. Thoroughly nice bloke too. A
that a refrigeration place used to cut tube for the fork stem, name ?? there is a web of industries once involved with scoots, most associated with the car industry now, like Giltrap the old lambretta agent!! had OG signs for lambretta agent, family friend has it on his kitchen wall - pride of place
http://www.rally.lambretta.co.nz/
Also Newmarket Auto trimmers used to manufacture the seats as part of the local content, as I found out when I had my 50s seat recovered.
1968 Vespa 90ss 1967 Vespa 50s 1986 Vespa PX125e