A local Santa Claus has a new type of sleigh for his warm weather appearances.
Ken and Alice Vergauwen, of Marshalltown, have been seen in town in their 2007 Scoot Coupe, a two-seat scooter from Panther Motors in Florida.
Ken said his daughter was doing research on motorcycles when she came across the Scoot Coupe and passed along the information to him. The vehicle is powered by a Piaggio Italian-made engine and can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour. It is licensed as a moped and is fully street functional.
Ken appears in parades and at campgrounds as Santa and this vehicle will suit those situations.
“I got it mostly for the parades,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of questions about it.”
One drawback is there is very little padding for the seating which may lead them to add more.
“It’s a little bumpy,” Alice said.
With a vehicle that small the fuel mileage helps make those high gas costs go farther. The couple just purchased the scooter so they have not been through a whole tank yet, but it is expected to get between 60 and 80 miles per gallon.
“I put a gallon and a half of gas in it and have run about 40 miles and hardly notice it is down,” Ken said.