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Showing posts from August 12, 2018

Random # 234: Renault Bus

Classic vehicles are a rare sight in Vietnam, with this Renault - photographed in the beach-resort part of Hoi An - being one of a very few worthy of the title.  It's a bit difficult to determine what era it's from.  However, the 1950s seems like a reasonable starting point but any advice or information to the contrary would be happily received.  So, Francophiles, any advances on circa 1950?  U M P H (uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.) All iPhone images.

Classic Motorcycle # 4: Vespa Scooter

UMPH had hoped there might be some classic cars on Vietnam's streets - at the very least a few older French vehicles (surely a 2 CV here and there, and maybe an occasional  Goddess ).  However, that turned out not to be the case ; with the exception of a single old Renault bus and a now-deceased monk's Austin, the entire country's four-wheel stock seemed to be mainly comprised of very new Toyotas and Hyundais. What there were, though, was a surprising number of Vespas.  Of course, the sheer volume of motor-scooters is hardly a shock to anyone that's visited Asia before but, proportionally , the the most classic of all the two-wheeled Italian jobs was popular enough to to be obvious without quite being common (like the ubiquitous to plague-proportion Honda step-throughs!).        This particular example - photographed in the centre of Saigon, as many locals still prefer Ho Chi Minh City to be referred to as - was particularly classic, with a mudguard-mounte