Vespa Scooters &
Cushman Motorscooters History & Information
1938 - Fiats prototype (Italian car manufacturer): A dalliance from the fiat car and parts giant which,
no doubt to their eternal regret, fast became history.
Cushman
During fighting for freedom
in WW2 a couple of models of military units were introduced - the US Cushman and the UK Welbike - to be dropped
as foldable paratrooper transport. The civilian version pre-dated the war, and the Welbike was redesigned after the war
and sold for civilian use as the popular Brockhouse Corgi, but both were terribly unreliable, cheap, not too fast, and unpopular
with troops who saw the motorscooters as a novelty gimmick, as they had a history of often failing to start or breaking
down within yards of the drop.
After the war though,
things really started to pick up. Post-war US investment, and splitting of engineering companies into subsidiaries with non-military
products encouraged production in war-damaged countries, effectively leading to the birth of the first genuine modern units.
Cushman also teamed with Vespa Scooters in the US.
Paparinos Motorscooters
1946 - Paparinos (Piaggio, Italy): This cumbersome, ugly, and cheap 98cc gas prototype was designed by Corradino
d'Ascanio, then Italy's leading helicopter designer for Enrico Piaggio, at his Pontadera aircraft factory in Genoa, Italy. Only
500 of these sold due to its looks and fast became history. Its two identical solid dish wheels were interchangeable
and its original ancestor was allegedly a sort of motorized chair built for moving about the munitions manufacturing factory.
Vespa Scooters
1946 - Vespa Scooters (Piaggio, Italy): Enrico Piaggios requested this resculpted Paparino, and
nicknamed it the wasp ('vespa'). Still 98cc, the classic design and cheap cost ensured the Vespa Motorscooters popularity
despite press criticism. The Vespa motorscooters sold over 1 million over next 10 years thanks partly
to Vespa Scooters very ambitious advertising. This is when Vespa parts company with
the competition and becomes a leading manufacturers. Used Vespa Scooters are now sought after by Vespa Scooters collectors
and enthusiasts.
Rabbit Motorscooters
1946 - Rabbit (Fuji-Subaru, Japan): The first mostly plastic motorscooters, these 90cc models
had boxy styling based around a tubular frame with rear-mounted motor.
Silver Pigeon
1947 - Silver Pigeon (Mitsubishi): Basic 100cc motorscooters, but attractive and popular.
This manufacturers did not stay in the motorscooters arena for long.
Lambretta Motorscooters
1947 - Lambrettas Motorscooters Model A (M) (Innocenti, Italy): Like his arch-rival Vespa,
Ferdinando Innocenti decided to turn his steel tube factory to designing urban transport solutions. The first motorscooters were very
basic looking and the of 123cc, had three gears and powerful motors capable of 42mph (faster than the Vespa Motorscooters).
Over the next few years motorscooters came in the Models 'B', with a new handlebar gear-shift mechanism, luggage
compartment and natty red paint job, and 'C', like the 'B' but with a spare wheel on the back too.
