London by vespa

These were a series of film shots I took trying to incorporate London sights in shot with my Sprint Veloce, I'll probably add a few more when my imagination is sparked again & the weather is better.....

 Camden Town tube

 Millenium Eye taken from Westminster Bridge

 Piccadilly Circus

 Smithfield meat market

 St Paul's

 Tottenham Court Road

Looking towards Tower Bridge

Splitty

Lovely restored split-screen bus spotted while riding my vespa thru a Hertfordshire village, had to stop of course & snap it with my OM10.

Check out this group on Flickr - analogue/film shots of classic air cooled VWs.....

http://www.flickr.com/groups/analog_vw_aircooled/

Mercedes Pagoda 280 SL

Very nice Pagoda spotted on way to Euston station after work one December evening. Was pleased with how this came out. Generally I won't use flash as it bounces off everything that's shiny or reflective but when taking film shots at night have to hold the camera very steady to eradicate any blur on a long exposure....

You can see some more film shots of nice Benz's here.....
http://vespamore-uk.blogspot.com/2010/11/mercedes-benz-in-london.html

Peugeot 504 Cabriolet

Lovely dark blue Pininfarina designed 504 Cabriolet spotted near Goodge Street, London - Late November '10. Taken with my Olympus OM10.

Curiously spotted this not long after taking some shots of a 504 silver coupe.....
http://vespamore-uk.blogspot.com/2010/11/peugeot-504-coupe.html

Beyond the Planet of the Apes

Piaggio Ape -  I love these. Been stuck behind quite a few when driving in Italy but never got annoyed. Ape, pronounced "Aapay" is Italian for bee, following on from Vespa (wasp in English), was the 3-wheeled utility version of the Vespa, even with the same handlebar controls as on the vespa but in the cab. Used for pretty much anything you could possibly think of... mobile coffee bar, gelati (ice cream), to local authority (council) vehicles, used by agricultural workers, builders etc.. & loaded with anything & everything. Seen these in Sicily loaded with freshly cut artichokes at the side of the road & being used by market vendors in Rome's Campo dei Fiori... still fairly widely seen in Italy today & still produced by Piaggio. Have spotted a few examples in London as mobile coffee bars...

This shot was taken in Comiso, Sicily in 2007 while on holiday. More Ape shots can be seen in my set on my Flickr stream http://www.flickr.com/photos/gs3vespa/sets/72157614805955897/ also check out this cool group on Flickr - Planet of the Apes http://www.flickr.com/groups/ape/ Ape club d'Italia here http://www.apevintage.com/ & finally 

http://www.vespaape.com/

Sprint Veloce

Photos of one of my fave Vespas, probably helps that I own one. Like these as they have classic Vespa looks & great engine with the 3 ports. Have owned a few vespas over the years but these take some beating for overall design, power, road holding etc I reckon...

Classic Triumph

Some 35mm film shots taken of classic Triumph cars spotted out & about. Excuse the ropey shot of the TR7; its not great as was taken at night without flash but is included as you don't see too many around these days, not 'in the wild' anyway....

Kieft en Klok

Very cool Dutch site selling/restoring classic VWs....http://www.kieftenklok.nl/