History Of Scooters

Lambretta

The origins of the scooter date back to the late nineteenth century, where the first production scooters was a two-wheeler, Hildebrand & Wolfmueller, made in Munich, Germany in 1894. This scooter was made with a step-through frame, with its fuel tank mounted on the down-tube.

Vespa

The engine was a parallel twin, mounted low on the frame, with its cylinders going fore-and-aft. In addition to this, a water-cooler and a radiator was added and built on the top of the rear fender. This scooter became the first powered two wheel vehicle to be offered to the public on a production basis, but commercially it was not very successful. Yet, it still provided a practical and reliable form of transport for those owned one.

Gilera

It was not until after World War Two in 1945, that the scooter came into its own as a popular of transport for all people. Italy provided must of the early scooters because after the war, there was dire need for transport.

Yamaha

The brainchild of scooters in Italy was Ferdinado Innocenti, who designed and constructed a scooter called the ‘Lambretta'. It was designed to be economical with fuel usage, with a moderate top speed of 45mph and a direct air-cooled engine of 123cc. It went on sale in 1947 with over 9,000 transport companies selling it throughout Europe.

SYM

So the modern day scooter was born. The reason the scooter was successful is that provided affordable and relatively cheap solution, to the problems of fuel rationing as well as lack of available transport at the time. This model of scooter sold over 9,000 in the first year. By the mid 60’s, the scooter had become the latest fashion statement with many young people owning and riding them.

Modenas

Today, scooters are still a popular form of transport, particular in Europe where many young people still use as an alternative form of transport to that of the car or bus. Scooters are currently manufactured all over the world in places such as Italy, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Spain, England, USA and Germany.

Suzuki

Popular models of scooters include the Vespa, Lambretta, Piaggio, Gilera, Benelli, Malaguti, Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Sym and Modenas. This showing the demand for scooters and popularity of scooters today is just the same as when they were first constructed back in the late 19th century.