Ok, I’m not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to early American scooters. I know a bit about Cushman, Salsbury, the Harley Topper… but I DIDN’T know about the Indian… No, I’m not talking LML Indian, I’m talking Indian Motorcycle Indian.
I took a swipe at their website to see if I could dig anything up, but the “History” wasn’t showing up.
One thing that IS showing up is how surprisingly sexy some of the lines are on this American classic. Not what I typically expect when I think about scooter design at the dawn of their existence.
Cheers to jive t robot for sharing. This is just one of MANY classic shots of someone’s private collection. Lucky dog!
***UPDATE***
Actually… moving over just ONE frame reveled the secret. It’s a 1949 Indian Stylemaster and a little google fu on that reveals:
Around 1949 Indian also sold this Briggs and Stratton powered scooter called the StyleMaster. It was actually built by Lowther Mfg. of Joliette, Illinios. They also offered a Spartan and a Vagabond model. They did not sell well and are rarely seen today.
10. December 2006 at 8:03 am
If you want to see some truly scary scooter styling, American-style, look at another Lowther model, the Lightnin’. Googling “lowther scooter” turns up a cached image of this freakish farm implement.
11. December 2006 at 1:00 pm
That’s a good looking scooter. The American scooters before and up to WWII were generally pretty primitive, but some had really nice looks. The Salsbury 85 being my favorite.
13. December 2006 at 3:16 am
Ahh yes, you gotta love a big, fat, Salbury 85… Speaking of which, if you wanna see LOTS of scooters from the era, check out TomsGarage.org
http://tomsgarage.org/oldtimer/roller_a.htm
Guaranteed to keep you clickin’ for hours! (depending on how fast you click)