Description
H&H Classic Auction @ National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
29th Mar, 2023 12:00
1998 Italjet Velocifero Patrick Cox ‘Wannabe’ Limited
Formerly owned by David Furnish
Estimate
£7, 000 - £8, 000
Registration No: S445 JGN
Frame No: ZJTV10018776
Engine No: 2953
CC: 50
MOT: Expired
Sir Elton John's Husband, David Furnish, is a former registered keeper
Very rare scooter only 20 ever produced in Gold
Only 532km recorded from new
Hugely collectible designer model, seldom seen for sale
A potential investment opportunity
Italjet Moto SpA is a most interesting company. It was founded near Bologna in 1959, by Leopoldo Tartarini, just as the motorcycle and scooter industry was starting to decline. Tartarini was a successful and outrageously successful motorcycle racer from 1951 winning the Milan-Taranto and the Motogiro several times with Ducati until a serious accident in 1955 which rendered him temporarily paralysed. He continued after his recovery to work for Ducati in a promotional way, as he was still under contract and opened the Ducati Bologna dealership. He continued to be a Ducati dealer until 1960, by which time he had already founded Italjet. From 1980, Italjet foresaw the potential of a new modern scooter boom and concentrated on quirky designs with a nod to the past, with the Torpedo and then the Velocifero. Italjet has been credited with over 150 different motorcycle and scooter designs over the years, most of a flamboyant and quirky nature.
The Velocifero 50 was launched in 1995 and appealed to fashion conscious city riders and offered modern features including electric start and a self-mixing two-stroke fuel system. For a 72kg moped the performance was sprightly and was said to have a maximum speed of 60kmh (37mph) on the standard engine.
Here we present an extremely special limited edition example, a collaboration between Italjet and Patrick Cox, to celebrate his iconic Wannabe range of shoes. 100 Italjet Wannabe Velociferos were produced in Black and White, with real snakeskin seats. However, Patrick has kindly confirmed to us that only 20 were produced in Gold and said that the scooter was purchased new, as a gift, by David Furnish in 1998. Elton John and David have been Patrick’s best friends for 30 years. This can be confirmed by the V5 we have in hand, in David Furnish’s name. The side mirrors are actually 14k plated gold. Latterly, we understand Elton and David auctioned the scooter at one of Elton John’s Aids Foundation charity events, where, we are told, it was purchased by a Gerry Lane, the partner of Elton John’s manager, who then gifted it to our vendor’s family.
The scooter has been unused for some time. The electric starter motor functions but the scooter will need a service. The V5 we have in hand displays the correct chassis number and year, but we believe a mistake at DVLA has it listed as a Yamaha model.
