The scooter served it's owner well until one day the engine blew or froze up. The engine was cheaper to replace than repair so an engine from an old 65 Sprint was installed on the frame.
The scooter rode well but changed owners several times. In the 1980s, while the Vespa P-Series was all the rage, the Sprint was showing it's age. The paint was fading and it just looked old. So off it goes to a shop where it received body modifications to bring it up to a more modern look.
The original horn cast was cut off and a P-Series horn cast was put on the front of the leg shield. Levers and grips were changed to the newer style. A P glove box was fitted on the leg shield. The old cowl glove box was welded shut and the bottom cut out to allow a spare tire to be mounted underneath like the P Scooters. And the tail light was replaced with a newer model. Then the whole scooter was painted white over the old faded light blue color.
The Sprint then was an old machine with a new look. For several more years it traveled the streets of Italy, until the owner traded it in for a newer scooter. It sat for a few years, future uncertain, until someone bought it in a lot of other scooter to be shipped to America.
After arriving in a container in the port of Oakland/Alameda in the mid 1990s, the Sprint was tuned up and sold to a new owner in the San Francisco area. It again changed hands a few times until the present day with a total of 68,000 kilometers on the odometer where it ended up in my hands.
The plans for the Sprint are to restore it to its off the assembly line condition, but keep it safe and functional. This blog in part will be documenting that process. All of the P modifications will be replaced with the correct part for the 1966 Sprint year model, turning it back in to a 1966 Sprint 150.
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