Archive 1 Set 4: Gallery 061 - 080

Archives of your 3-Wheelers.

Gallery 066

My thanks go to John Revell for this picture of his 1968 Piaggio Ape. John writes:

... I enclose a hurriedly taken picture of the Ape and a few of the parts which I am  in the process of reassembling. The box on the right contains the bulk of the engine which is now very nearly finished. Rear suspension and driveshafts are on  the left and one of the doors at the back. It's an incredibly cleverly designed vehicle. Everything is nice and simple yet well engineered and very light in weight. At the moment I can lift the rear up and walk it around like a  wheelbarrow.

This vintage (1968) had no sissy electric start but uses a large and agricultural hand lever starter. It has four gears which drive through an integral reverse transfer box and then to an integral differential. This system gives four forward gears and four reverse allowing a potential 30mph backwards! (I may not try this out). Two open half shafts drive the rear wheels. Steering is via handlebars with clutch and gearchange on the left and front brake (cable  operated) and throttle on the right. Rear brakes are hydraulic and operated by a foot pedal. Even the steel doors are amazingly lightweight but still very strong. The open truck back has drop down tailgate. I am missing the front headlight and the fuel tank but will find suitable substitutes when the time  comes. The front mudguard/wheel cowling is also missing so I will need to make  one from steel or GRP. Early apes apparently housed the fuel tank actually inside the cab on the right of the dashboard with the filler also inside the cab. Not an ideal smokers vehicle. My tank will most definitely be external.

John's E-mail address is: rrevell@rrevell.screaming.net

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