FIRST MAIL-ORDER VESPA SCOOTER, COMPLIMENTS OF SEARS: THE 1955 ALLSTATE CRUISAIRE

We asked experts at Los Angeles’ The Petersen Automotive Museum, one of the world’s largest automobile museums dedicated to examining the impact transportation has had on American life and culture, to give us a sneak peek into some of the rare and historic Vespa motor scooters formerly on display at their Scooters: Size Doesn’t Always Matter exhibit. Here’s what they had to say about the 1955 Allstate Cruisaire, first sold by Sears for the masses in the 1950s:

In the early 20th-Century, Sears was America’s one-stop resource for everything from clothes and lighting fixtures to small appliances and agricultural equipment. Beginning in 1908 they also retailed cars. Although the primitive looking buggies sold at a loss and were discontinued just four years later, the retail giant never entirely abandoned the idea of selling vehicles. When rival mail order house Gambles started to catalog the Doodle Bug scooter in 1946, Sears’ executives reasoned that they should offer a similar kind of vehicle to cater to the growing demand.

Recognizing that scooters were no more challenging to sell and service than gas-powered lawn mowers, they began retailing scooters in 1951, both in stores and by mail order. Two of these early models were modified Cushmans. The other was a re-badged Vespa.

Sears gave all of their scooters the name Allstate, which was shared with a large number of their other automotive-related products. The Vespa-derived models received the “Cruisaire” designation to distinguish them from those built by Cushman. The initial purchase price of $279.95 was a large amount of money to spend at Sears during the 1950s, but a bargain sum for one of the most sophisticated scooters built up to that time.

All Allstate Cruisaire scooters built through 1961 were painted seafoam green, but a great array of options and accessories (including sidecars) were available at extra cost through Sears’ catalogs and retail stores for riders wishing to give their scooters added utility or distinction. The public considered the scooters a good value and Sears’ first order for 1,000 sold so quickly that they immediately placed a rush order for 5,000 more. Sales of Vespa-built scooters continued through 1966, the only year they wore a Sears (instead of Allstate) badge.

Ordering an Allstate Cruisaire was no more difficult than ordering anything else from the Sears catalog. Once bolted together upon delivery (by the buyer) with simple hand tools and fueled, the large majority of parts or service needs could be handled by almost any Sears store. Its 125cc one-cylinder engine provided more than adequate power and the three-speed transmission was easily shifted simply by rotating the left hand grip.

The Allstate found favor with buyers for the same reasons that the Vespa did: it was nimble, affordable, economical to operate, and stylish. Of the other large retailers that shared Sears’ strategy of selling re-named scooters, Montgomery Ward offered the stiffest competition with its Riverside-branded Lambrettas.

But the Vespa Allstate will almost certainly remain the best known for giving Americans everywhere their first opportunity to possess their own little piece of ingeniously engineered Italian exotica.

Check out more pictures of the Vespa Allstate from the Petersen Automotive Musem: