Welcome to part two. This week I present a true what the hell were they thinking design. At this point I rub my hands together and introduce you to the Vespa 150 TAP.
That's right now we can all drive around town impressing the ladies with a powerful cannon between our legs.
This concept created in 1959 was actually deployed in impressive numbers for use during the Algerian War.
Built around a 75 mm Heat firing antitank gun, this sexy little beast was designed with active paratrooper in mind. Capable of carrying 6 rounds, this beast had a top speed of 40 mph on smooth terrain.
While Urban Legends err people swore that this could be fired on the fly, there would be several problems with that, first of all aiming it would be impossible on the move, second of all the action of firing a round down a barrel quickly heats up the barrel which means that every time you fired it you'd cook off the Riders sensitive part.
The real secret to why this beauty actual went into production and was deployed that it was a very clever yet wacky design. It could carry a Paratrooper with a radio, a fairly heavy load of ammunition, a anti tank gun and a mounting tripod. The gun could be deployed, fired and broken down and stored very quickly on a surprisingly fuel efficient Vehicle.
the only design flaw, that you couldn't drive this bike at 100 mph up a jump and then shout some clever catch phrase at a tank commander as you fired in mid air.
but other then that its this kind of clever out of the box thinking that made the Vespa the bike to have for every male that wanted to brag about his enormous gun and protect his virginity until marriage.