Domingo Torre, Montevideo, Uruguay

A lot of the Iso Scooters ended up in South America. I'm unsure on how this connection was established. Apart from export to Argentina there was also a large importer called Domingo Torre based in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Iso Scooters were sent in kit form to this dealer, assembled and now ready for sale.  1962.

Via Google Street view I easily located them and I can see this company is still in business today

And via their social media channels:

https://www.domingotorre.com.uy/

https://www.facebook.com/domingotorremotos

https://www.instagram.com/domingotorre/

I obtained a few more nice historical photo's:

Iso S.p.A automotoveicoli Bresso (Milano) Italy - fabrication plant

 Click to enlarge:

Iso scooter 150 - series 1 vs series 2

 At my initial start of the Iso scooter investigation the following site was very helpful:

http://isomilano.com/

Again I was very suprised to read this scooter was a Maserati spin off. I'm a huge liker of this brand. Also this page described very well the different marketing names provided for the different countries. I'm still unsure how the link is established with South America as a lot ended up there. More surprising is to read that France and Germany were apparently not targetted? 

It also described when the production started and the distinction between a series 1 and 2. 
In my case I was not exactly sure. The advert mentioned 1959 but they also mentioned 1958 and there were no papers with the scooter. As pointed out by the website; the Iso logo on the windshield is perhaps the most visible for a series 2 but mine does not have one. But perhaps it was simply lost overtime, who knows. The other very visible distinction is the extend headpiece over the headlight with the integrated handlebars. 
Upon checking mine, it has a extended headlamp cover but completely different then what I have seen so far. Maybe it was an aftermarket piece but it fitted to good for that. Maybe I had a transition model? After an intense search I finally found 2 online examples having this cover as well. It appeared to be a rare accessoire for the series 1. Hereby an example of a series 1 without and with headlamp windshield accessoire:

Series 2 with headlight cover integrated with the bar handles. In this case you barely can see the Iso logo in front of the windshield. The other visible items are the kickstarter pedal which is longer upwards and also the tail light is different compared with a series 1. Other than that, they are identical. According to the website the engine appears to be slightly different as well. 

In my case there was also an original instruction booklet in French. And it does mention 59, thus hinting towards the second series. But maybe this booklet was obtained later? In any case I expect my scooter was originally delivered in Belgium as on the windshield there was a original stylish logo mounted with the text : "Verwimp - Meerhout". Unfortunately I was not able to reveal anything about this company.

Iso Milano motor air vents accessoire

 And now I, of course, started to frantically searching about the scooter, parts, etc. 
To my suprise a new advert showed up on Marktplaats. And it had 2 seperate accessoire items listed:

I was clueless if these were original items. The "sidebars" or whatever it was did not look genuine to me. Likely some aftermarket rubbish. I doubted if this was meant for the Iso Scooter. So I asked the seller if I could buy the air vents seperately. Apparently another buyer was interested in the bars so a deal was quickly made. I thought this little investment could not do any harm. Although I was still uncertain about these air vents. Especially due to the unknown logo used. Initially I could not find photo evidence on the internet where applied on Iso scooters. I asked the seller where he did find these items and if he had an Iso Scooter or knew potential contacts. He used to have different scooters in the past and found these items on a fleemarket. He did not had a Iso or knew any contacts.

Meanwhile I did find some photo evidence and it looks like a genuine accessoire item for the Iso. Click to enlarge:

But now I was still unsure if this item was supposed to be used on a serie 1 or 2. In fact it was unclear to me which model year I had. More about that later. In this case the model was equipped with optional wheel caps (using the same logo). Also the frontwheel cover (mudguard) has some chrome ornament mounted on the front. Including on the curved fenders. And, almost not visible on this photo, it has an extra chrome protection bar on the windshield.

When further browsing around I found these on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/314607229685

So by the looks of it I made a good deal.

And today they have arrived by post:

Not sure if I will actually use them as I like the actual clean cut design. Beside this one there is also another alternative:

The advert

As per introduction the advert was placed on the Dutch Marktplaats. Normally I take screen shots of these just for the records. But in this case I was to late. But with Google cache I was able to bring it up again. So hereby the screenshots:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oI-7kM4k1nYJ:https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/motoren/motoren-oldtimers/m1984020562-iso-milano-150cc-1959&cd=28&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nl

It is only now that I see the advert was seen 2040 times and saved 41 times! It ran for almost a month.

Initially the black color with red wheels put me off but when reading the advert and flicking through the photo's I changed my mind.

You can click on the screenshot photo's to enlarge:

In the supporting text you can read (if you understand Dutch) the scooter was professionally sand blasted and sprayed in epoxy primer. Afterwards it was sprayed black (Ugh!). Also the brakes were overhauled. Only the electrics had to be sorted out, other than that all was done. When I inspected the scooter I was also informed the carburettor had been ultrasonic cleaned and the gastank had been sealed - so no more potential corrossion issue's. 

And now the surprising bit, at least for me. The sandblasting and expoy primer had been carried out the following company. This photo was included in the advert:

And this photo was included as well. 

When checking the website of the company I found the Iso Milano in their project list, cool!:

https://oldtimer-stralen.nl/project/iso-milano-scooter/

And when checking their Instagram account I can see it as well:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRNsB-ABO_J/?img_index=1

And when checking their Facebook account I can see it too:

https://www.facebook.com/tools.vocor.nl/posts/pfbid069sbkTrCdsWTdcDUN6RozoZuyirVh5EQBYC6kAaCpYHMeRghJY8iUEg2ZRy2sGEzl

So apparently this work was done in May 2016 - That's more than 7 years ago!

And now the interesting part. I do happen to know that company as it's nearby where my mother lives and around that time I must have visited them to buy some tools. And I clearly remember that Maserati Khamsin. I was stunned to see that car in the shop. I bumped into one of the shop guys and he was surprised to hear from me stating it was a Maserati Khamsin. As mentioned earlier, I'm an Italian car enthusiast. In fact I also figured out which company was overhauling this Maserati as I had visited them for work on my own Italian car. How's that!?

In any case, in late 2018 I had some parts sanded and sprayed by that same company. 

https://erwinxjs.blogspot.com/2018/12/parts-sanding-spraying.html

https://erwinxjs.blogspot.com/2019/01/sandblasted-parts.html

In any case, I definately now know this scooter has a very solid basis. The owner said it was in good condition and not rusted but required a good overhaul and the above is covincing proof of that. I was informed this exercise costed about € 800,- 

Still a pitty it was painted afterwards in this silly black color. It definately needs to go back to original specs.

Update 8-8-2023: I stumbled upon another advertisement by the seller for a local website, slightly highly priced though: 

https://www.advertentiex.nl/ad-iso-milano-150cc-1958-1558906?in=Noord-Brabant-Motoren

Introduction

Hello all,

Another blog another adventure. I had been looking into scooters before but found them a bit expensive. Especially if it's for an occassional drive.  At the time I was mostly looking into classic Vespa's. And I was particularly looking at the early examples from the fifties and sixties. Prices went up so much overtime so I simply left it. I had enough other vehicles to play and drive with. 

Then last year I got my hands on a Heinkel Tourist scooter by surprise and I still have it today. It was a remarkable story but I won't bother you with that. 

As I'm alway browsing around a bit this Iso Milano scooter showed up by surprise. I was not even looking for it. Not sure how that happened but I was immediately triggered. I had looked into this scooter brand before but they are quite hard to spot or to find. I'm an Italian car enthusiast so I know the full story about this brand and the vehicles they made. As such I have soft spot it.

The advert on the Dutch Marketplace was about to expire and someone had made a lowball offer that same day. So I placed a higher bid and got contacted the next hour. I left him a PM with my phonenumber and not much later he called back. Apparently more people were in contact with him but he considered me a serious contact. So an appointment was made and after a quick demonstration the deal was made.

The scooter still needs a bit of work which on one hand holded me back a little as I know how scarce and difficult it will be to obtain parts and bits. It always will end up more expensive, so sometimes its better to buy a complete restored example. Then again, I found it an unique opportunity and maybe the closest chance to obtain a Iso vehicle. And honestly, I do like the challenge to find and search all material and get it up and running again. 

So expect much blog updates the coming weeks and months.