1956 Vespa or Zuntapp?

[Guest jrmond]

I found this 1956 scooter to exchange and i am trying to track down the type of it!

Anybody has any idea?

[Scooter Guy]

It's absolutely not a Vespa.

Looks to be a mid to late 1950's Zundapp Bella Scooter.

[CarlLaFong]

Yup. I had two of them. It is actually an earlier Bella with the telescopic forks. The later ones had an Earles type, leading link, front end. Bellas are great scooters

[Guest jrmond]

great thanks for the help guys! Do you think it would be easy to restore one of those?

[CarlLaFong]

Bellas have a following and most parts are still available. I would certainly go for it. If it were closer and I knew where it was, I'd snatch it out from under you:)

[Scooter Guy]

Parts are always the issue with the more obscure foreign scooters. I say "obscure" in the sense that it's not a Vespa or Lambretta with plentiful parts sources in the US.

Zundapp built a really nice, high quality machine, and they built tons of them...BUT...most of them are still located in Europe. There was an export model that ended up in the US, but they don't seem to have ever come here in great numbers. There is no "known" parts supplier in the US, so those wanting to restore them either need to buy parts bikes or be willing to deal with parts sources in Germany. If you can deal with the communications issues, are willing to pay in euros, and are willing to take on the headache of shipping parts in, you can get almost anything for them you might need.

Something to keep in mind...I have a rare model Vespa in my collection that is a Euro-spec machine (a separate version was done for the US market with lots of changes). Since it is a Euro-spec, none of the US sources stocked the correct Euro specific parts. So, I ordered what I needed from a supplier in Germany and arranged to import the parts. Since my order included some items that US Customs officials deemed "safety and/or pollution control devices without DOT approval," (a tail lens, exhaust system, brake and clutch levers) my shipment was seized by US Customs officials. It took over a month of calls, forms, and explaining that I was working on reconditioning an "antique" vehicle of European origin and that DOT-approved parts from US based suppliers don't exist. They didn't really care what I had to say, but ultimately did accept the forms I had to file and released the shipment. It's also worth mentioning that customs did open up the boxes and go through the contents.

So...if you're willing to contend with all of that, I say go for it.

However, I'm almost positive you could buy one already finished for a fraction of what you'd spend just on importing parts for this one. There always seem to be a few for sale through the Vintage Motor Bike Club and occasionally there is one posted on scoot.net or similar.

Here's the best Bella site out there:

http://zbic.org/home.asp

Edited October 2, 2012 by Scooter Guy
Added Link (see edit history)

[Steve Braverman]

I had a Bella when I was a kid. It was a great machine. I'd love to find another.