1962 scooter clip inc. racing Trobikes ( u.s. Go-bikes ?)

[richard]

p50 sent me this link as we both have Trojan Trobikes , theres some nice coverage of the usual scooters and although not scooters really, in the day Trobikes were considered akin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTC392qgaRQ

[Big Al]

Of interest is the Trojan dual control Lambretta scooter too. Did not yet see any Micros in the background, though.

[richard]

Yep a lovely piece of film I thought - surprised so few comments . Shows what I know . I of course I looked for micros. To hear some people they were common in the 60s , these old films show us they were not ! But. By 1962 the mini certainly was .

[Big Al]

A look at production import figures show that most were never a common site save during the rather short selling period. There are statistics of Schmitt usage in Germany that show a remarkable short swell of numbers matching the two or three years of maximum production dwindling to a limited number of survivors to and  after cessation in '65. On top of that were regional populations around a good or effective dealer and areas of little penetration for various reasons. It is not so surprising that The Isetta and Bond seem to be the most common street furnishings to appear in street scenes. Things alter a bit for product placement as Trojan were very much sensitized to this and the Schmitts more unusual design saw it picked out for a few tasks making the field for the main competitors look more even. The Berkeley series seems to be rather invisible though.
Then again I have not an extensive library of these old films like some so I maybe wrong.

[richard]

does anyone have comparative figures , sales or production , for micro's uk or europe wide i wonder

[Big Al]

I know Isetta, Messerschmitt and Trienkel figures exist to some degree. Putting them all together might be a bit of a task as the info has to be winkled out of them's as has it. Sometimes that involves several layers of peat and lead as security or what have you. I have the Schmitty figures (Sort of two stroke glyphs with eagles on footballs instead of flags) in a backnumber of a German magazine.