Dragsters are on the boat!

Mon, May 21, 2007

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Here at TheScooterScoop, we wait with baited breath because in the next 6 to 8 weeks (give or take) we are expecting to see the worlds first Itlajet Dragster 250 to hit the shops, not to mention the revival of the classic racer, the Dragster 50cc 2-stroke.

With sport scooters on the rise, we’re gonna see even MORE scooter customizing, tweaking and perhaps even racing. In the USA, we’ve been lagging behind nos amis in France and unsere Freunde in Germany. It’s about time to turn the tables there. Who knows… maybe YOU could be the next American to compete in the 2008 Scooter Cup.

You could also keep tabs on the MASRA forum to see how you can get in on the action. Also found this little list of US scooter racing shops at WhizWheels.

Well, since we still have some weeks to go before they get here, let’s reminisce by reading a Press Release from 2005:

“DRAGSTER – BACK TO THE FUTURE”

“Strange, grotesque and over-the-top. But who will use it? Who will want it with that front, with that exhaust and with that frame?”

These are some of the comments that Italjet overheard – and metabolized, analyzed and motorized – among the crowd ten years ago at Milan’s Bicycle and Motorcycle Exhibition 1995 when the prototype of the Dragster 50cc went on display on the rotating podium at the company stand.

The Bolognese motorbike manufacturer presented a proud, amusing, trendy, racer-style Dragster mixing technology with aesthetics; a scooter with a visible lattice-work frame and going by the name of Dragster – because no other name could be more suited. Instead, ten years on, the Dragster not only still exists and is observed in wonder, but it is still in great demand. Even more impressive perhaps is the existence of a worldwide network of fan clubs that are just as original and surprising: one example is Paul Robinson’s www.italjetdragster.com site.

Robinson created the website in the year 2000, in honour of all Dragster owners and to make sure they had a space where they could find information on how to ‘hot up’ their engines and to redesign and re-clad their scooters to reflect their personality. The legend of the Dragster – seen as the scooter for the new generations, as a scooter like no other, and the symbol of a very new-age New Wave – has given rise to a scooter-rider attitude and identity embodied in an endless number of T-shirts, badges and other paraphernalia. Yet it does not end here. The Dragster has even arrived in Silicon Valley: the videogames sector leader has created a special Dragster game where fans can bemuse themselves or let off anger in endless battles escaping from or chasing the enemy aboard a virtual, blazing Italjet scooter.

And here it is again, more exuberant than ever, offering a reliable performance keeping up with modern times, but above all non-stop intense emotion.

Tartarini and Ferrandino have both decided to photograph it in all its force, with its accessories and related spare parts, because it is recognized as the scooter. A scooter that, despite the passing of time and market and consumer changes, has remained a cult. And as such they have chosen to immortalize it.

So here is the Dragster once again (in the 50cc injection version, the 125cc four-stroke and the 250cc four-stroke) to surprise, amaze and pamper – yes pamper – aficionados of myths, monsters, legends and metropolitan-scooter realities. Here it is in all its finery and – adding a dash of imagination – whatever customized look may be given by fans sweeping from Europe to the lands of the Rising Sun, who have finally found a mascot to unite them.

ITALJET INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
(EICMA – November 2005)

They are also good fun to customize. OH! And, click on the title link for the official ItaljetUSA site.

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7 Responses to “Dragsters are on the boat!”

  1. Casey Says:

    Looks like its time to put my left nut up for auction and maybe a kidney or two… Because you know..I need one of these!

    Reply

  2. Anonymous Says:

    Yo, it’s “bated breath.” I think “baited breath” is what you get after eating pussy.

    Reply

  3. Steve Says:

    Good for a chuckle. I looked it up, and shur’nuff.

    http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bai1.htm

    Although it said we are drifting toward using “baited”, since “bate” or “abate” isn’t really used any more.

    *goes to store… buys gum*

    Reply

  4. Anonymous Says:

    Awesome…looking, but it only goes 30mph (restricted)! It looks so fast, how can they make it so slow?

    Reply

  5. Anonymous Says:

    Never mind. They have a 250cc one that goes 80! I want one now.

    Reply

  6. Anonymous Says:

    What’s the cost?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Casey