Faro Basstardo
Not being able to afford his dream scooter wasn’t going to stop Graham Rhodes owning it. He just built his own.
Graham told us: “I’ve had scooters for years, but somehow the Faro Basso had completely escaped me. A couple of years ago I stumbled across a photograph and instantly fell in love. There was something about its lines, the naked handlebars and, of course, the mudguard mounted headlight which really appealed.” Working in engineering, Graham’s more than capable of taking on a rebuild and with a Basso in his sights the trawl for a suitable project began. “The prices were eyewatering,” he laughed. “There was no way I could justify the cost of even a rough specimen and as my knowledge of the type increased, the more I realised how different it was to the PXs I’d worked on.”
Budget Basso
At this point most people would have given up on their dream, but Graham’s made of sterner stuff. Whilst trawling the internet in the search for an original machine, he realised that there were a host of reproduction parts that could be used to convert a PX, and the cogs in his mind began to turn. “The starting point was sourcing a suitable frame,” he explained. “The look meant no indicators and that meant finding a frame from before August 1, 1986, as after that date it’s illegal to remove factory-fitted indicators. Fortunately, a 1985 frame fell into my hands and the project was on!”
Being a thrifty Yorkshireman there was no way that Graham was going to buy a new set of the GS/PX bodywork. It took patience, but by carefully monitoring eBay and various forums he slowly assembled a full kit. Unfortunately, his frugal ways didn’t always pay dividends. “I saw a set of LML casings advertised for just over £150, including shipping from India. At that price I knew they’d need work, but wasn’t prepared for just how bad they were. None of the gasket faces were finished; they’d been cleaned with a wire brush, but that was it. The machinist at work cleaned them up, but then we discovered that the cylinder mouth was out of square. We could have adapted it, but there comes a point when something becomes more trouble than it’s worth.”
The LML cases were consigned to scrap and replaced by a set of original Piaggio items. On to this Graham bolted a 177 Parmakit barrel, a 28mm Dellorto and a lightened flywheel. A close-ratio gearbox also lives inside the casings, whilst a TSR revolver provides a very similar look and
sound to the classic Frescos of years gone by. According to Graham, the Parmakit was very fussy to set up, but although it hasn’t yet been fully run in, Graham’s pleased with its performance as after all this build was always more about looks than performance.
Another critical part of the Basso look are the ‘car wheel’ hubs. Having dismissed the logistics of reverse engineering PX components as too complicated, Graham adopted a far more practical solution. “We machined some bolt-on plates, and other than tapping them out for fastenings the original hubs are completely untouched.”
One of the few parts that Graham could neither source as used nor recreate in the workshop were the handlebars, and these were purchased as a complete unit from a supplier in Belgium. These reproductions bolted straight on to the Rally forks and also facilitated the fitting of another key Basso feature – namely cables, which emerge from the frame tube.
Brotherly love
Having secured all the necessary components, Graham was in no doubt as to who would apply the paint. “My brother is a sign-writer and offered to paint any scheme I chose. The plain Vauxhall green doesn’t do his skills justice, but it’s exactly what the Basso look requires.” As with all great builds, it’s attention to detail which completes the effect. “At first I didn’t cut the panel, but soon changed my mind as it’s such a characteristic of the early Vespas. Unfortunately, on the dry build it just looked like a gaping hole. Fortunately, John Thornton at Bronte Engineering came to the rescue. He both
modified the fan cowl and laser cut the stainless trim.”
Unlike the dangerous copies emerging from the Far East, Graham’s Basso isn’t intended to deceive and he freely admits that he’s made no attempt to recreate the Basso’s finer details. As the scooter’s name implies this is a mongrel, but a very good-looking one at that. It may not fool enthusiasts, but on a summer’s day it brings a smile to the face of strangers. Other than the single seat “which took some getting used to”, Graham’s pleased with his budget build. “I wanted the look and I got it.” Faro Basstardo proves that with imagination, anything’s possible.