When I was 17 there were, in my mind, three things devoutly to be wished:

1) A scooter
2) A black leather jacket
3) A girl in a tight skirt sitting side saddle on the back of the scooter, Italian style.

All of these elements came together for me during a 15 minute period on Montreal's Sherbrooke Street in 1964. It was a golden era, or at least a golden quarter hour. The girl I haven't seen in forty years although I heard on good authority that she became a militant anti- fluoridationist. The scooter eventually disappeared into the mists of history but was never forgotten. I loved that scooter.

So recently, in a spasm of nostalgia, I found and bought one just like it. It had spent the last twenty years in a storage room in hell, a hell that is partly real and partly embellished by a Hollywood movie company (but that's another story).

Well, I now have a restoration project in the shape of a 150 cc. NSU Prima D, circa 1954-56. Incidentally, in 1956 a British couple rode one two up from England to Australia. They crossed Afghanistan when that country had virtually no real roads and ground their way up mountain passes with no siginficant mechanical problems until they reached Kabul. This machine was solidly built.

The NSU sits expectantly in the garage next to my travelling bike (Kawi ZR-7S) and my work of art ('83 Honda CX650 Turbo). In attempting to gather parts I've encountered a dating issue. NSU built what were basically Lambrettas under licence until that licence expired around 1955. They then commenced manufacturing their own similar looking but mechanically distinct 150 cc. machine known as the Prima D. Parts advertised on line are often accompanied by vague references to the Prima and to years ranging from 1954 to 1957. I haven't been able to figure out when the D actually came out. I just took a chance and ordered a gasket set for a '54 Prima D but some sources suggest there may have been no such model yet in that year.

So, does anyone know when NSU actually began manufacturing the Prima? An esoteric question I realize but I've provided a hopefully entertaining preamble so you have'nt entirely wasted your time.

By the way, the book of the 1956 scooter voyage from England to Australia is being serialized online at "Two-Up" By Scooter to Australia.

Happy trails.

Normw