San Cristoforo
1949 - 1952
S. Christopher was an Italian scooter company active from 1949 to 1952 in Milan.
S. Christopher, as well as the Gianca brand, were not very long-lived, and we have very little info and fragmented. Its production focused mainly on the Nibbio 100, manufactured by Gianca, it was not doing very well and with sales of its only other product (the Kite) was down, they were forced to close their doors.
Despite that this project was purchased by its S. Christopher, which started a scooter, introducing a new two-stroke 125 cc with a valve disc, and of course, also designing the body. This new product named the Nibbio 125, but like it's predecessor, was not very well recieved by the public, so its name was changed once again and sold under the Simonetta name.
Following the closure of Giancarlo, the building permit the scooter "Kite" was given to St. Christopher's, located in Viale Maino No 9 to Milan. Information has not been found before or after the years 1949-1952 concerning the St. Christopher, the fact is to assume that the company was founded specifically to pursue the production of "Kite", avoiding to disperse theknow howand the reputation acquired.
On Living the cycle and motorcycle of 1949, the St. Christopher presented a new version of Kite Giancarlo, the displacement was 98 and 125 cm3, almost the same in substance and technique but radically changed in appearance, with a more angular and elongated body, according to the canons that were gradually established itself in those years.
In early products were proposed as models "to 98" and "B125" branded "Kite", and later took the name "St. Christopher" and "Kite" returned to being the model name. In 1950 the body of "Kite", fixedly secured to the tubular frame was replaced with a body block completely removable to facilitate maintenance.
As for Giancarlo, the initial success of weak sales, did not follow a steady increase that could be made to achieve a profitable production or the St. Christopher had sufficient power to start hammering advertising campaigns or bear the weight of the initial sales. In those days the Italian market scooters was basically monopolized by Piaggio and Innocenti that left little room for competition. Moreover, the construction of handicraft and pregevolezza some finishes using a retail price rather high. Indeed, in 1950, "Vespa 125 cost L. 168,000, the" Lambretta 125 LC "L.166.000, while" Kite 125 "was offered to L.190.000. It should be noted that at the time, the difference over L.20.000 accounted, roughly, the basic monthly salary of a worker.
Groped for the increase in low volumes of distribution in the 1951 was presented the model "Simonetta", the news was limited to a few cosmetic changes and a few technical improvements. Moreover, to reduce production costs, the model was achieved in only swept the garage and was transferred to of the more suburban No 18 Borgonovo street. All efforts proved futile and St. Christopher had to close its doors in late 1952.
Production models of St. Christopher
- Nibbio A 98 (1949-1950)
- Nibbio A 125 (1949-1950)
- San Cristoforo Nibbio 98 (1950-1951)
- San Cristoforo Nibbio 125 (1950-1951)
- San Cristoforo Simonetta 125 (1951-1952)
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