the Vespa truck, I love it.

I'd carry it around in my BIG truck

Wow, that's a freeky photo! I had to look for a while before I figured out it was a painting on the back of that truck!

The Vespa is neat, too!

I love them too. My ex wife has one because in Britain you can drive them on a moped licence. They have been around for decades (4 or 5) in Europe, where they have the name "Ape". This caused me confusion until I realised that it's not Ape as in a big hairy ape like King Kong, but Ar-pay the Italian word for "bee". ("Vespa" is the Italian word for "wasp".) They buzz around, you see.

at least you picked up on it

Looks a bit like some recent Apes -

http://www.citycatinternational.com/3apwheelers.htm

Thanks, I didn't know Ape and Vespa were the same! (Duh..)

I'm thinking, if GM could produce and market something like the Vespa ape, I would be the first in line to buy one. It ain't the end-all but for urban/commuter use I would love it parked beside my Toyota Tacoma.

Interesting info on similar vehicles here -

http://www.tachoblog.com/general/tachoblog-talks-tiny-trucks/

(I found it by looking up Topolino..)

Reminds me of a three wheel dump truck I saw in Osaka, back in '64.

They aren't exactly the same, a Vespa (wasp) is a 2 wheeled scooter introduced in 1946, the Ape (bee) is a 3 wheeled truck introduced in 1948 by the Vespa company using the same engine and transmission as the scooter.

They now make a 422cc diesel car / tuk tuk (rickshaw taxi)



In Italy they race them (this looks crazy!)

Right, I should have said same company, not the same. I sure knew about the Vespa scooter. And I knew about the Ape. Just didn't make the connection.

That rickshaw is a cutie..

a throwaway tangent -
Fontana delle Api by Bernini:

There have been Vespa races in history (I saw one at the Nürburgring in the 70's) .... and still today: