Here's the Spanish streetbike collection, the Ossa 175 Sport was bought in the early eighties when I despaired of ever finding a Metralla. This bike was the last of 12 he had imported in the sixties. I had fun riding it around for awhile, but it's been sitting and deteriorating for far too long.
The man who had owned and raced the Metralla suddenly passed away in 1975, it had been stored in a basement ever since but the widow wanted to do a Thelma and Louise-type trip in the American Southwest. She told me this bike was going to pay for it. We reached a deal by phone, I went to her house after she returned, we sat outside on the porch in the dark and told stories while we drank a bottle of wine. A good proper transaction. It mostly sits in my dining room but will fire up with a couple of kicks..
The Impala appeared a short time later at a swap meet in New York State. i figured I should give it a home with other Spanish bikes, and now I had 3 of a kind. It is just as it was when I bought it- neglected- and will probably be the project after the other Metralla projects are out of the basement.
Meanwhile, it's nice to pull them out and admire them occasionally...
My god that was a simpler time wasn't it... I heard once if you ride that Bultaco at full speed into a fog you go back in time.
ReplyDeleteIn Caracas in the early 70s we did not see many of the Spanish road bikes. Johnnny Cecotto rode Yamahas so that's what the road-runners sought. Trials riding was big at the time though and there were lots of OSSAs, Montesas and Bultacos. Mine was a 74 Sherpa-T-350.
ReplyDeleteA once much more immortal, yours truly, circa 1978?
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Would they have been sold in south America in the late sixties, I wonder? Judging by the serial numbers we got a shipment of Metrallas in about 1971 or 2. At that point they were so primitive, it's a wonder any of them sold. The Ossa 175 and Montesa Impala had long been discontinued.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention a 350 Sherpa T...
I don't know how early the Spanish bikes would have been marketed in Venezuela. But given that there were many large waves of Spanish (as well as Italian and Portugue immigrants) I would suspect it was pretty early. All the off-road models were very common. The road bike scene was 100% dominated by the Japanese brands and that was all below 400 cc displacement. Just about the only larger displacement bikes were BMWs and Guzzis. Then in the mid 70s they started to market the larger KZs and CBs. But the government soon banned the those as they became a favorite of bank robbers who could make a quick exit through traffic and outrun the cops.
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