Motorcycles

BMW had only been building motorcycles for a few years when the world’s economy crashed. Timing and design were perfect, and the R2 quickly became a people’s favorite.

The Centaur Folding Scooter was designed by James Wilford Foster, formerly an American employee of Lambretta, an Italian scooter manufacturer. Marketed as America’s only “full-size” folding scooter, the relatively heavy 90 pound Centaur folded down into its own seat, becoming a 20” x 30” x 16” box to be stowed in a car, boat, or airplane.

Everett and Clinton Cushman began making farm machinery and two-cycle boat motors in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1901. The famous “Husky” single-cylinder four-stroke engine debuted in 1922.

Derny began production in 1949, specializing in the manufacture of auxiliary-engined bicycles and tandems, all powered by proprietary engines. The Derny Taon, or “Horse fly” was unveiled at the 1955 Paris Motorcycle Show.

Production of the 3800 continued until 1988 when VéloSoleX stopped manufacturing mopeds. However, in 2004, the Cible Group purchased the brand and launched the e-Solex, an electric bicycle, notably designed by the famed Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries is best known as the parent company of Subaru. Before they made cars, FHI was well-known for their line of scooters and motorcycles, including the little Go-Devil scooter seen here.

At the conclusion of WWII Japan’s Nakajima Aircraft Co. was reborn as Fuji Heavy Industries, to manufacture civilian vehicles. They were responsible for the Rabbit S-1, Japan's first motor scooter.