Anyone miss the Sears catalogue, purveyor of everything from mail-order homes to balls of yarn? The Sears Wish Book connected rural America to a gallery of consumer items. For me, growing up in a small city, the catalog inspired fantasies of my future life as an adult. Though I don’t remember scooters in particular, Sears sold two-wheelers from Cushman, Puch, and Piaggio. Here on eBay is a promising example of a rare Puch Allstate scooter, with an asking price of $1400. It’s complete and cosmetically decent but doesn’t run, and there is no title. This little guy is located with a dealer in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch was an Austrian manufacturing powerhouse that grew from making rifles in 1864 to producing all manner of vehicles by the 1960s – from heavy trucks to mopeds and scooters for export. The company was gradually split up and sold off over two decades, with final dissolution in 2001. Puch’s Sears connection began in the mid 1950s (nearly ten years after Sears began selling Cushmans under the Allstate name). Several variants of the Compact were made, beginning with the DS50. This DS60 has a 3.9 hp 60 cc two-stroke single with an unusual feature: since the knee guards prevent effective cooling, a fan is situated on the right side of the engine, feeding air into an aluminum shroud. The air is then deflected over the motor. These shrouds can go missing, but this bike is complete.
The DS60 was available in Standard and Deluxe models. The Standard was supplied in a single color with no chrome trim; the deluxe included two-tone paint and chrome tank trim. The tank cap doubled as a measuring cup to pre-mix oil into the gasoline. Later Puch Allstates were configured with a horizontally mounted tank.
The three-speed transaxle is controlled via a twist of the left handle. Some models were foot-shifted. Top speed is about 40 mph but owners report that 30 mph makes for a happy compromise between sluggish and terrifying. Prices for restored Allstates range between $3k and $4k. Parts are not impossible to find, and online shop manuals are available, but any venture into the realm of unusual, no-longer-made vehicles will provide an owner with challenges.
Cue X-Files theme,,,again. Ms. Rand, you hit a(nother) nerve, only this one REALLY takes me back. When I was 12 or 13, say 1968ish, the guy across the alley, who was always a bad influence, picked up an Allstate Mo-ped, very, VERY similar to this. No knee guards. It had the same motor and chassis, and a 2 speed, shifted by the left handgrip, as mentioned. We rode it up and down the alley, when “Scott”( no relation) suggested we sneak out after dark and ride this thing around the neighborhood. Sounds like a plan. So that night, after Johnny Carson and the folks went to bed, me and my brother put pillows under the blankets, and snuck out the bedroom window. It was tight out of Hollywood. We rode that thing all over, when one of Milwaukees finest( in an Ambassador) saw me and my brother, my brother driving gunned the mighty motor, but alas, the Allstate was no match for the cruiser, and we got busted. Got hauled in, they called my old man, MY OLD MAN, mind you,, was he pixxed. 1st he denied it, but came and got us, the beds were trashed. I don’t remember anything else happening, ticket wise, not sure Scott ever got the thing back, but it is a memory and vehicle I never thought I’d see a “visual” again. The skull and crossbones are a nice touch. Tip of the hat, Ms. Rand!
Very entertaining, Howard! You should write a book!
Thanks, Michelle, but you know, we weren’t doing anything that unusual, and those kinds of shenanigans went on all across this great land. We just got caught, is all. The only people that can relate to my experiences are ones that went through that themselves. I’ve had younger people( on another site) say, “when an old man starts to gloat, I’m turned right off”, and I’m not sure younger folks want to hear about it. It’s okay, we had a lot of fun.
@ Howard A…..Milwaukee PD had AMC Matadors in the fleet not Ambassadors. Ambassadors were what our troopers drove….built in Kenosha.
Thanks, pal, we were pretty shook up, and all I remember was it was an AMC. I seem to remember the Wis State Patrol used Plymouths in the 60s.
Great story Howard, it’s a good thing we all didn’t get caught for all our knuckleheadness! Not a word, but it fits us all.
Very interesting find Michelle and an another great example of how varied your appreciation for the different types of transportation.
Howard-another great example of how our country has changed in the way things are handled when dealing with kids nowadays. Great stuff!.
Hi Nev, boy howdy, got that right. From what I’ve told you about my dad, the ride home from the police station was dead quiet, once we got in the house, all heck broken loose. They heard him 2 blocks away. I think my brother got a curfew violation, but the cops knew, my old man will handle it. We don’t have that kind of discipline today, and I say society has run amok partly because of that.
đź’Ż%!
Not sure I agree with this rant. When my youngest got pulled over by a cop I got a phone call and the cop said “he seems like a very good kid so I didn’t want to write him up. It’s better for you to handle this the way you see fit!” Just like back then, the majority of kids are just fine. Don’t believe the doomsday hype, it’s been peddled since the beginning of time.
Hi Beyfon, I’ll tell ya’, it’s all relative. if you weren’t a kid in the 60s, the “woodshed” attitude was still very much in effect. People like my old man, never really hit us, but screamed his fool head off, it might have been better to get hit. Sorry, to my experience, kids are NOT okay today. Many aren’t even getting their license, and work? Pfft, why do you think it’s all old folks at Walmart? Kids, like dogs, are a direct result of what you put into them. What happened with this kid in Minneapolis is so sad, but reflects how out of whack some kids think today, and that I feel, is in part, due to the lack of family discipline. Did my old mans harshness actually help me? Yes and no, but it kept me out of jail. Brother too.
Not sure when your kid was stopped, but today, LEOs are under such tremendous pressure, they don’t have time to make a call like that.
Being retired, I watch some classic shows, Leave it to Beaver, the one where Ward helps the kids make a go-kart, and with strict rules not to ride it. Well, Larry Mondello, who was like Scott, convinces Beaver to go for a ride and they get busted. The motorcycle cop that stopped them was a hard aXX, but the court was a very wonderful scene, with the judge very understanding and let Beaver go. Ward was not very happy either.
I can’t explain it, but the skull and crossbones is what makes this bike rise above.
I still remember the Puch 175 in my time ! 75/76 great dirt bikes! And the quality! Second to none! Great pice of memorabilia! Just say!
The Seller has 95 items 4 sale on Ebay a few scooter’s and lot’s of car’s and Trucks some with krazy prices……lol
The fan cooled engine wasn’t due to the knee guards, it was something Puch had for all of their mopeds and small cc motorcycles at the time. I had a Puch Dakota in the 1970’s with a fan cooled 50cc engine. Pretty much unkillable.
As a kid, I used to love to go to the Sears store with mom and dad. While they shopped, my twin sister and I were allowed to run all over the store while they looked at clothes or appliances or something else boring. Pop would give us each a quarter to buy candy at the candy booth. My sister then went to browse the toys while I made a bee line for the automotive department. That’s where the motor scooters and motorcycles were. I would sit on them and dream of speeding down the highway. The salesman didn’t seem to mind that I tried every cycle there. More amazing was the fact that our parents let us 10-year-old kids run free in the big two-story store. It was a different time then, a time that was better in so many ways.
Sure is a different world now. Mom used to take all 5 of us to the store and leave us in the car. She was afraid we’d burn the house down if she left us at home or we’d embarrass her if we went inside with her. One time they called across the PA for someone with a green 67 Chevy station to get control of their kids. We caught H3LL from her and when dad came home he made it worse as usual. LOL
You are so right Matt. “Wait till your father comes home” had real meaning and it wasn’t going to be good.
In 1969, I had a Sears Allstate 50cc, Blue, early 60s model. At the time I was only 15 years old. Had other motorcycles. So a close friend gave it to me dusty and not running. I always like the idea of the fan and shroud. But didn’t seem popular?? That engine run, idal super smooth and quiet. Wish I would have left it laying around, just to have. Thanks
The last Sears catalog that I remember seeing was the one that had the well endowed man hanging out his boxer shorts. They even wrote a song about it how he wanted to be more like the man on page (196?). A late friend of mine worked at Feldkamp/Malloy advertising who shot the catalog pictures for Sears. There was a a very dark cloud hanging around his office after that.
davidK Wait Till Your Father Gets Home was a great prime time cartoon. Tom Bosley was a great tv Dad
I have several of these. $1,400 for a non-runner, with no title is extremely optimistic. Although, it shouldn’t take much to get it running, and surprisingly there are some great sources of parts available.
https://bodnarus.liveauctiongroup.com/1962-Sears-Allstate-Compact-DS-Scooter-Maintenance-Manual-Cannot-Ship_i58505441
Here is a 1962 local to me