Josh Sims - Scootermania: A Celebration of Style and Speed

CHAPTER 1.

History and design

In terms of public image, the scooter has long played second fiddle to the motorcycle. If the motorcycle in large part due to Hollywood myth-making, from The Wild One to Easy Rider suggested the romance of the open road, the scooter suggested another breakdown at the side of the road; if the motorcycle suggested the machismo of the outlaw figure, the scooter, in contrast, at times suggested prissiness and the feminine; if the motorcycle suggested power, the scooter suggested pootling, even at full throttle. The scooter is all small wheels and pop colours. The scooter is fun.

Of course, there is a large dose of stereotype in the readings of both kinds of machines and at heart both have provided the same thing: escape, independence, mobility and a certain kind of cool. Indeed, while, over its post-Second World War boom times the scooter has attained a smaller global following than the motorcycle, arguably it has inspired a more ardent following, especially given the relatively tiny and often troubled industry extant to supply it. It has perhaps also inspired more affection among the general public, precisely for its smallness, in scale, noise and attitude. Scooters can be cute. Even their name scooters sounds cute, with, similarly, the dominant companies behind them, most famously Piaggio with the Vespa and Innocenti with the Lambretta, suggesting a foreign exoticism and Italian chic, one that thankfully has survived globalisation.

Not, for sure, that these were the only manufacturers and not by a long way. While longevity and pop culture have ensured that these two names have become bywords for the scooter even generic terms akin to Hoover for all kinds of vacuum cleaners many other companies were involved in scooter production. The scene was set with much of Europe on the long road to post-war reconstruction, rationing still in place and cars unaffordable to buy and expensive to run for many which is perhaps one reason why scooters generally failed to catch on in consumer booming America. Such was their expected appeal in the 1950s particularly that even motorcycle manufacturers dipped their toe in the waters.

One of the most attractive, and, it must be said, Vespa-like, designs of the 1950s, for example, was the British-made 175cc or 250cc Triumph Tigress. Its feminised name hinted at the market that Triumph perhaps had in mind. Tiger would have been far too macho applied to a scooter. In 1952, even future super-bike manufacturer Ducati produced a scooter, the rather more sexily named Cruiser. Ducatis, naturally, packed more power than most, housing an overhead-valve 175cc engine.

Yet throughout the scooters history, its most successful variants have been designed and built by specialists. And, it might be added, attracted a specialist audience, too, who understood and appreciated that a scooter was not a poor cousin to the motorcycle, but something altogether different: progressive, modernistic, accessible and fashionable.