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Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
The 20th century spawned a number of iconic long-selling motor vehicles, among them Ford's Model T, Germany's Volkswagen "Beetle" and Italy's Vespa scooter. In terms of total sales, however, none of them has come close to approaching the success of the Honda Super Cub, which has outsold the other three combined.
Designated model C-100, the Super Cub went on sale 60 years ago this week. Since then, it has enjoyed steady demand at home and abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia. Last year, Honda Motor Co.'s total sales of the Super Cub, including sports and commercial models adopting the same platform, shot past the 100 million mark; they account for about 30 percent of the 350 million motorcycles Honda has sold worldwide.
Rebutting the philosophy of "planned obsolescence" that some manufacturers have been accused of building into their products, the Super Cub's minimalist profile remains immediately recognizable, having changed only slightly over the past 60 years. And while nobody knows the exact number still in running condition, nostalgia buffs in search of an original C-100 have been known to bid over ¥300,000 on auction sites online — six times its 1958 selling price.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 07 2018, @03:13PM (1 child)
Check out the Manege scooter -- http://www.oldbike.eu/museum/childrens/scooter-manege/ [oldbike.eu]
Hardly gay, more like Buck Rogers. Would have been pretty cool to have one of these as a kid.
Instead, I saw a mid '60's mini-bike (I was 12) and asked my father for one. His counter-offer was that he would pay for the parts if I built my own. This led to doing simple drawings on brown paper (from a wide roll at the butcher shop) and lots of catalog shopping for parts (mostly in the Sears catalog). Then buying some steel tubing, cutting with a hack saw, filing the joints and finally having it welded (my father arranged this with the welding shop at his work). Eventually I hot rodded the 3 hp lawn mower motor to the point where it threw a rod and holed the block...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday August 07 2018, @03:38PM
You are correct, sir. I partially retract my statement to exclude this weird and wacky little conveyance.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.