1959 Vespa 400 Red 2 Door Convertible

 1959 Vespa 400.  If you don’t want to be one of the most popular attractions at the car show, move on to another listing. This winner of multiple awards is a red beauty and one of the nicest examples you’ll find. The two tone tan/beige custom interior is an improvement over the the spartan trim offered from the factory. It is powered by an air cooled 2 cylinder 2 cycle 400cc rear mounted engine developing nearly 20HP. This will get you to nearly 55mph on level ground but it has to be said, these cars are not the best hill climbers. The ignition system is dual points, each of which with it’s own coil. quiring just a 2% oil mix leads to very minimal smoke. It has a 3 speed manual gear box with synchro-meshed 2nd and 3rd gears. The 4.40X10 inch wheels are bolted to the 4 wheel independent suspension.  Steering is quick and responsive due to the rack and pinion unit and the roughly 1,300lb. car has 4 wheel hydraulic drum brakes. 

It has been fully restored and while not an exact factory example, the color choice, convertible top, wide white wall tires make this car very near what designer Carradino d’ canio had in mind back in 1956 when he produced his design for the ggio company in . While an Italian company, the car was manufactured in France by Ateliers de construction de motocycles et d’ automobiles(ACMA) in chambault France, south of . ACMA produced  approximately 31,000 units between 1957-1961 with approximately 1,700 units being imported to USA in total.

This car appeared in AACA magazine’s National Fall Meet Southern Division Sept. 2005 edition, Minutia ine of Microcars and Minicars in 2007 edition, AACA July/ gust 2007 edition, AACA Jubilee edition June 30-July 3, 2010 edition and AACA Sept./Oct. 2018 edition.

A couple interesting quirks of the car include suicide doors, a glass reservoir on the master cylinder with both left and right handed threads, the front tray mounted battery and the automatic oiler in the engine compartment. Despite its small size, the car has a surprising amount of leg room up front and access is comfortable using the suicide door arrangement. The rear of the interior has had a small cushioned/upholstered seat added for any excited grandchildren type to tag along as well.