ABC Magazine

Babetta 210 Moped

Simson SR50CE

This model was introduced in 1983 by the company Povazske Strojarne in northern Slovakia, which had been manufacturing mopeds of the Babetta brand since 1971. Many were exported to Germany, The Netherlands and the USA, though they were exported under the JAWA name. Shortly afterwards in 1985, however, production was moved to a new factory in Kolarovo. Production of the 210 and derivatives continued into the 1990s, but with increasing problems owing to political changes and increasingly poor manufacturing quality. The factory closed altogether in 1997.

The model was published first in 1989, and then reprinted in 2003. I think I have the original version. It is scaled 1:15, so I enlarged it by 7% to 1:14. Like most ABC models it is quite cartoonish, with chunky oversize parts and heavy outlines. I intended to make it as designed, but soon found myself redrawing the frame and front and rear forks to overcome severe fit problems. As usual there were also parts to be made from wood and wire, which I mostly made from rolled paper. Amusingly, for the wire parts (handlebars and exhaust pipe) one is directed to the parts pages for their shape, but they are just not there. I just guessed something reasonable, using photos of the real thing as guide. Finally, I made proper spoked wheels. The result has a certain charm, I think.

Front left Front right
Left Rear right