Who makes a Stella lookalike in auto?

[youngster]

My wife and daughter love the look of the Stella but have no desire to manually shift

[PeterC]

My wife and daughter love the look of the Stella but have no desire to manually shift

That's why there's a passenger seat.

[illnoise]

The Stella is (more or less) an exact copy (with a few modernizations) of the 1977-2007 Vespa P-series (specifically a Vespa PX150).

The P-series was never automatic, though the smaller PK series offered a few automatic models. These are crazy-rare in the US, and 25 years old, and the largest was a slow (by today's standards) 125cc. So that's no good.

Bajaj, who (like Stella manufacturer LML) once produced Vespas under license in India) released a couple automatic 4-stroke models in the US in the early 2000s. These are decent bikes, but they've since been discontinued and parts are sometimes hard to come by. The styling and design is roughly based on the P-series, but they lack the retro charm of the Stella. You may want to keep an eye out for a 2000 or later Bajaj Chetak or Bajaj Legend (the Chetak looks better).

Vespa still makes metal-framed scooters loosely based on their traditional design, but highly modernized. They're all automatics, but are expensive and lack vintage charm (though some models are more retro-looking than others, the retro features are somewhat superficial, and would never be mistaken for a vintage scooter, like the Stella.

The newest option is the Hammerhead "La Vita," which is a chinese-made scooter with a tube frame and a typical GY6-clone engine, all covered in a totally ornamental plastic body that's based on the 60s Vespa design. It looks pretty legit (from far away) but a vintage Vespa snob wouldn't be fooled for a second. While many chinese-built scooters are junk, the importer of the La Vita seems pretty responsible and the quality is allegedly pretty good, but it's still a Chinese scooter with a plastic vespa frame covering it up. It's an automatic, so that might be right up your alley.

[laxer]

I didn't realize that newer Chetaks were automatics, crazy!

[illnoise]

Wait, nevermind, you're right, I'm dense. Bajaj Chetaks and Legends aren't automatic.

[JSharpPhoto]

if you want something that looks more classic than a buddy, in an auto....

you're only option is the Hammerhead La Vita

[Nickie McNichols]

I was lucky enough to test ride a LaVita about three months ago. I didn't get to go far or fast, but I quickly saw it was much superior (and much more expensive) than my plastic Chi-scoot. The seat was different, and I didn't like the electronic gauge cluster. They have since changed it to something more classic looking.
It is NOT a Vespa, and I don't know how much like a Vintage Vespa it is, because I'm pretty naive about those. But I think almost nothing beats the look... They did a nice job, and the price shows it. List=about $3000.

[illnoise]

I haven't ridden it, but sitting on it, it really does feel like a vintage Vespa, proportionally and weight/balance-wise (though the engine doesn't weigh it down on the right like a real Vespa!). It's a little bigger, and you're sitting higher off the ground, but the proportions feel right.

Riding it would be disappointing to a vintage Vespa rider, no shifting experience or engine noise! But that's a plus to some people, I guess.

I like sprung saddle seats, i've found my 60s Vespa saddle as comfortable as any modern scooter seat on a long ride. I think they offer the bench seat as an option, and Scoot! recommended the upgrade, but I'd try the saddle first.

Bb.

[glamourgirrrl]

What color do they come in? I only found green, black, white, and red...

[illnoise]

That's all it lists on their site, color-wise.

I hate to bag on 'em because it's impressive Hammerhead actually pulled off something relatively decent that no one else has done, and they seem like good people running the operation. But to use a phrase that's WAY overused, the bike "is what it is." Anyone that's interested in anything other than superficial first impressions won't be fooled. Compare a LaVita to a vintage VBB by side, and you'll see that there's every difference in the world. It's like if you could buy a Kia with a big plastic '65 Mustang fastback body stuck on top of it. It's like one of those fake Louis Vitton bags they sell at flea markets, but not even the bootleg authentic-looking Louis Vitton, it's the one with *different* initials printed in a similar pattern, on pleather. I see people with those all the time, so people buy 'em, but I don't get why.

There's a market for 'em, there's nothing BAD about them, really. I think people will buy 'em, I just don't get it.

I guess there are people that don't get why I like riding a 30-year-old bike with cruddy brakes, useless lights, and a manual transmission, so to each his/her own.

[JunkyardDog]

Shifting the Stella is easy. Being a lifelong 51 year old motorcyclist, I had it down solid in less than 20 miles. Now, keeping it running, that may be another matter. It broke down on me in less than 3 weeks, with 389 miles on it. If it continues to be that unreliable, I will sell it, no matter how attracted to it I am. I have wanted a Stella for years, I finally get my dream scooter, go for a ride, and it has to be hauled home in the back of a pickup. Not a very good first impression. However, it is a REAL vintage scooter, with all the problems, and all the fun, of a real vintage scooter. If you want the vintage scooter look, get the real thing, or a Stella 2T.

People who ride vintage Vespas and Stellas have a right to some attitude, they've earned it from learning how to ride the things and keep them going. I for one do not want a fake vintage scooter with a CVT. that's cheating. Besides the Stella, I also own a Vino 125, and in 3 years and 13,000 miles I have had one person as best I can remember mistake it for a Vespa. I am now planning to give that to my daughter, and get a new Buddy 125. Nobody is going to mistake that for a vintage anything. Jerry.