Why ‘big two’ overcame all
The lucrative scooter boom of the 1950s attracted many manufacturers, but getting it right was a hard task to achieve
We often wonder about the history of an individual scooter, but have you ever stopped to wonder about the people who created it? From the first sketches in a drawing office to it appearing in a showroom is a story of its own. Back in the golden days of scooter production, competition was fierce. Manufacturers, dealers and salesmen all united in one common goal: to sell as many units as they could. For the customer looking to buy a new scooter it was a different challenge and at times the choice they faced was almost overwhelming.
The scooter market was always dominated by two manufacturers, Innocenti and Piaggio. They weren’t the first companies to produce a scooter but by the 1950s they were by far the best at it. It was this dominance that forced other manufacturers to join in; they wanted a slice of the action and of course the financial rewards it offered.
At first glance the recipe for success was straightforward. It seemed that a small engine, a couple of wheels and a bit of tinwork was all that was required, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. The design needed to be stylish and good looking while at the same time offering good performance and reliability. This was a package offered by both Vespa and Lambretta, with a key factor in their success being the engine which they produced themselves.
In both marques this was an integral part of the scooter and it did far more than simply powering the frame along the road – it was part of the scooter’s chassis, suspension and handling.
Many manufacturers trying to develop a scooter didn’t have that option, the designers being hobbled from the start by boardroom requirements to use engines from stock or well-established suppliers. In Britain the Villiers engine was a popular choice for budding scooter manufacturers; it had a track record of reliability and thanks to a readily available supply of parts was used in numerous motorcycle designs. However fitting one into a scooter frame wasn’t an easy task.
The essence of a scooter is its compact, fully enclosed bodywork but the stretchedout motorcycle drivetrain of gearbox and chain didn’t fit neatly with that concept. Trying to get bodywork to fit around it all was a designer’s nightmare and more often than not the result was ungainly and often oddball.
Other manufacturers took a more direct approach and simply covered their existing motorcycles in bodywork disguised to look like a scooter. The Lambretta and Vespa had small wheels, around half the size of a motorcycle, so this seemingly easy method was also doomed to failure. Those who followed this route generally succeeded in turning what had been a thoroughbred motorcycle into something of a mongrel. Regardless of these problems the scooter had become so popular that manufacturers were drawn to its rewards like a moth to a flame. The market soon became flooded and the sheer volume of competition became a real threat to the ‘big two’.
The poorly designed and dare I say ugly ones soon fell by the wayside, selling perhaps just a few hundred units. There were however a handful of exceptions to this rule and they began to capture a share of the market. Unfortunately these designs had their own Achilles’ heel and that was in aftersales service. Not only were both Lambretta and Vespa hugely reliable, they offered service agents and spares availability on an epic scale.
Those trying to get a foothold in the market couldn’t offer that kind of service and this was reflected in long waiting times should repairs be required.
The other main weapon was advertising, something that Lambretta in particular exploited locally, nationally and indeed internationally. Such was the saturation of this coverage that any dealer of the lesser-known makes didn’t stand a chance of being noticed.
Dealers were expected to crush the opposition and having such large quantities of stock allowed both Lambretta and Vespa dealers to slash prices, giving potential customers no reason to look further than their own showrooms.
By the 1960s the opposition had been virtually wiped out, with just the odd pocket of resistance from other manufacturers. The final nails in their coffins were the lack of any budget to develop their machines.
On the other hand both Lambretta and Vespa were continually developing their models, meaning that they were the most modern-looking and best-performing scooters on the market.
Looking back it’s a shame that more manufacturers didn’t make a success of their foray into the world of scooters. Some of the designs and ideas were as good, if not better, than those offered by both Lambretta and Vespa.
It’s still easy for one or two brands to dominate a market – take computing for example, but that doesn’t mean the also-rans should be forgotten. In fact we should be celebrating them, even though the odds were never in their favour.
It seemed that a small engine, a couple of wheels and a bit of tinwork was all that was required, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth.