Scooter

(Usually small) type of motorcycle. Popular models after World War II were the Vespa and the Lambretta.

A scooter usually is a "light two-wheeled [...] motor vehicle on which the driver sits [...] with [...] their feet resting on a floorboard" (Scooter, Oxford Dictionary), meaning that the part between handlebars and driver's seat is low enough to easily step over the vehicle.

Brands

The most widely known manufacturer of scooters is Piaggio, the inventor of the Vespa. Up to today 89 different versions with a total of 20,000 changes has been built of this scooter. The origins reach back to the first prototype in the year 1946 (Darnell 21).

Innocenti was another manufacturer of Scooters, who developed the Lambretta. Ferdinando Innocenti developed the idea after the end of the Second World War and by the beginning of the 1950's offered a wide range of models (Davies 8).

Both companies were in constant competition, but the Vespa became the "archetypal scooter", whereas the Lambretta always was the "distant second" (Darnell 15).

Over the years many motorcompanies started producing scooters, such as Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki, offering a wide range of low- to medium-priced models (Hill 66).

Popularity

When first produced scooters were intended as "low-cost product for the masses" and merely "utilitarian", a means of inexpensive transportation (Maida). They were talked of as a way of "commuting economically and conveniently" (Hill 65). Scooters, especially the Vespa, were heavily advertised and quickly became a "symbol of Italian-ness" (Maida). They also were very popular with Modernists, who also tended to devotedly customize their scooters with things like two-tone paint and lots of extras (Sarti).

Sources

• "Scooter." Oxford Dictionaries. The world's most trusted dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries Online project team, Oxford University Press (Ed.) <http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/scooter> last visited 15 June 2012.

• Darnell, Bob and Bob Golfen. How to Restore and Maintain Your Vespa Motorscooter. St. Paul, MN: Motorbooks International, 1999.

• Davies, Pete. The Lambretta Bible. Covers All Lambretta Models Built in Italy: 1947 – 1971. Dorchester: Veloce, 2008.

• Hill, Ray. "Motorized Two-Wheelers. Economical All-Weather Transportation." Popular Science: The What's New Magazine. July (1980): 65-67.110.

• Maida, Alexis. "Vespa: A Lifestyle Brand." 9 Dec. 2010 <http://loft22.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/vespa-a-lifestyle-brand/> last visited 12 June 2012.

• Sarti, Doug. "Vespa Scoots Sexily Back to Vancouver" Straight.com, Vancouver's Online Source. 3 Jun. 2004 <http://www.straight.com/article/vespa-scoots-sexily-back-to-vancouver> last visited 12 June 2012.

Further Reading

• Current model range of Vespa

• iVespa – Vespa lifestyle page

• Mazzanti, David. Vespa. Das offizielle Buch – alle Modelle seit 1945. 2nd. ed. Bielefeld: Delius Klasing Verlag, 2006.

• Lambretta Club Great Britain

• Cox, Nigel. Lambretta Innocenti: An Illustrated History. Newbury Park, CA: Haynes Manuals Inc., 2001.