About Us
In the early 1920’s the DEL BASSO shop was an old fashioned motor business. The premises occupied a double shop front in Sun Street and ran all the way through to the current premises in Bucklersbury. The shop in Sun Street was a vehicle showroom, parts distributor and also an old fashion petrol station. The petrol pumps were located in the premises occupied now by Zizzi restaurant.
The business was operated by a local company Morgan’s Ltd. In about 1929 Mr George Farnsworth acquired the majority shareholding in Morgan’s, and proceeded to run the business until his retirement in 1973.
In 1960, a 15-year-old boy from Italy arrived in England, anxious to better himself. In 1961 the boy now aged 16 started as an apprentice mechanic at Morgan’s. The boy was Nick Del Basso. In this early period this is where young Nick specialised in the repair of motorcycles and scooters and soon became a favourite in the local motorcycling community, sharing his expertise.
As Nick learnt his trade he soon became workshop manager and then progressed to manage the whole business and he eventually purchased the business in the 70’s. With the introduction of the Japanese bikes in the 60’s and their market dominance in the 70’s, Nick decided to embrace the opportunities they offered and concentrated solely on Japanese bikes.
In the early eighties he decided to drop all the other brands and became a Honda dealer.
Del Basso’s now in Nick’s ownership flourished and together with his two brothers Philip and Tony soon became the largest Honda dealer in the area. The business won many awards and accolades during this time and was awarded 5 star status by Honda. During the 30 years of supporting the popular Japanese brand Del Basso’s did not look back and enjoyed continued growth and success even sponsoring races and numerous other motorcycling events.
In the late 1990’s they relocated the sales site next to its workshop in bucklerbury and concentrated on small capacity scooters and motorcycles.
In 2004 Nick’s youngest son Gianni joined the business and with his academic success and his passion for bikes and scooters he gave a different approach to the already successful organisation.
Gianni decided to go in a different direction and decided to follow his links with Italy and follow on from his fathers experience and success in the scooter market of earlier years. He decided to become a Piaggio dealer. The moved sparked renewed interest in the local area. The vespa became evermore popular and people near and far have enjoyed the knowledge and expertise of the Italian family business and seem to warm to that environment.
Del Basso’s has recently opened a vespa shop next to its site in bucklersbury.
Del Bassos have an excellent customer base and prides themselves on service and going that extra mile. You can feel the ambience of years gone by, coupled with the modern vehicles and modern facilities on offer.
Today although managed by son Gianni, Nick and his brother Philip still work there and share their unrivalled expertise in the field and hopefully give a feel of days gone by, in terms of customer service.
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