Mike Cianciola is active in the 5,000-member Cushman Club of America and attends meetings around the country. His walls are covered with trophies he has won at the events.
"This has been a good hobby and I thank my dad every day for it," said Cianciola, a lifelong Memphian who was almost 12 when his father gave him his first Cushman.
"It was in 1967 and I was so proud of it," said Cianciola. "All my friends had Hondas, and all I had was a Cushman. I couldn't outrun them, but I could keep up with them and I was just so happy to have my Cushman."
Cushman of Lincoln, Neb., manufactured engines for everything from farm equipment to golf carts starting in 1903. Cushman scooters were light enough for Army Airborne officers to drop them by parachute for use as military base transportation and message-running during WWII.
Most models feature a step-through design like Vespa scooters, one or two seats, angular handlebars and a single foot pedal for brakes. Their three- to seven-liter engines achieve speeds between 30 and 60 mph and have two-speed transmissions.
The scooters are eligible for antique registration tags and drivers must have a motorcycle driver's license.
Most of Cianciola's scooters are Highlander models, although he also owns a few of the alligator-shaped, chrome-adorned Allstate models sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co., and one Silver Eagle, a later model designed to look like a small motorcycle.
A sign near his 1963 Silver Eagle reads: "Remember, Silver Eagles are like wives. If it ain't yours, don't touch."
Cianciola's oldest scooter is a1954 Highlander with a white tubular frame and an open engine. The rarest, four Deluxe Highlanders, were only made between 1955 and 1957 and come with sheet metal engine casing rather than fiberglass.
The collection includes a wide range of years and models including a 1959 Eagle. There are also some chrome-adorned Allstate models sold by Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Cianciola attended his first national meeting of the 5,000-member Cushman Club of America in 1983, and has been traveling across the country ever since, usually twice each year.
"It's always a long ride," he said. "Even high fuel prices didn't stop me."
He counts as his closest friends the many other Cushman enthusiasts he's met in places including Farmington, Minn.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Casper, Wyo.; and Arlington, Texas.
"We're like one big happy family," said Cianciola, explaining that because Cushmans do not have the fuel capacity for long distance riding, he hauls them to meets in his tow truck.
The streets of Memphis aren't necessarily the best places for scooter-riding either.
"I have more fun riding out of town," said Cianciola. "There's places I go like Portland, Ind., that remind me of Memphis many, many years ago. You can ride your scooter down the street to the Ponderosa and eat a steak supper, leave your scooter outside with the helmet on the seat, come back, and it's still there."
Cianciola has come home from meets with more plaques, trophies, and ribbons than he can count. They occupy entire walls in his house and museum. His awards represent meets in 19 states.
"One of my favorite awards I've won just this year," said Cianciola, displaying the trophy. "The women in the Cushman Club started their own group called the Highlander Honeys, and they pick out the sweetest Highlander at the show. I got the award this year."
A second storage unit is his shop where a 17th Cushman, a 1959 Highlander, waits to be stripped down to the frame and restored. Cianciola spends three to four months and up to $2,000 restoring each scooter by hand.
Mike Cianciola's 17th Cushman, a 1959 Highlander, awaits restoration in his workshop. He spends three to four months and up to $2,000 restoring each scooter by hand.
"I'm a natural born mechanic and I attended college at William R. Moore College of Technology," he said. "I took every course over there but one."
Then there is Stormy.
"I've built many a prize fighter," said Cianciola. "But there is only one that stands out alone from the rest. That's Stormy, my 1957 Highlander. Stormy is not pretty, but it will run. Stormy is the one that made me famous."
Cianciola said that club members at meets have grown accustomed to seeing him ride Stormy side-saddle while recording events on his camcorder.
The Cushman company closed its scooter factory for good in 2002, but Cianciola said that just brought him closer to other enthusiasts on whom he now depends for parts and prospects on more scooters.
"I spend a lot of my lunch hours making long distance phone calls locating parts," said Cianciola. "I'm not worried about it. I'm in it for fun and fellowship, that's what it's all about."
Home
