Pre Slow Way Home -How my love for italian three wheeled Ape50 started

I’ve been a Vespa enthusiast for 28 years and since the Piaggio Ape50 is basically a Vespa smallframe with a cabin and 3 wheels, I was always kind of interested but never had one.

In 2016 I saw an old Ape TL4T sitting outside a local bar basically abandoned to the elements and left to oxidize.

It was only being used as a dog house/shelter for a dog in front of the bar. It was a nightmare to see this poor Italian three-wheeled van rusting away like this.

One day I passed the bar, and I don’t know what got into me that day, but on the spur of the moment I stopped.

I entered the bar and asked who the owner of this vehicle was. The bar was full of drunk older men in the middle of a work day. A strange place full of failed souls and sad stories of drowning sorrows and ranting about politics and football. The guys pointed out the bartender to me. He was also the owner and an alcoholic. I guess he was his own best customer.

I approached him and asked him about the rusty old moped tricycle outside the door, and he confirmed that it was his. I asked him if he would be willing to sell it, and he said yes because he no longer had a driver’s license. I wasn’t particularly surprised.