Gaining notoriety in 1953 with Audrey Hepburn and the film ‘Roman Holiday’, the Vespa scooter has become a staple piece of design in the world of urban transport. Manufactured from 1946 onwards, the scooter was initially designed to be a modern and affordable form of transport in Italy. Since then it has transformed in to what is arguably the most famous and instantly recognisable brand of scooter.

Vespa has branched out into many avenues of products, but the scooter maintains to be their number one design. The hope was that the heritage and design resonance of the Vespa brand could be adjusted to the realm of child kick scooters; a market that since its emergence in the late 1990s has been filled with a range of products, the majority of which are designed for commuting or tricks. What if the design features and social status of the Vespa scooter could be used in the kick scooter market?

During development, an existing scooter was reverse engineered, CAD modelled and stress analysed to assess whether it conformed with British Standards (it did not).  A major redesign was then undertaken to make the product a) conform with British Standards and b) suit the Vespa brand language. The finished model (shown below) underwent FEA testing and numerous iterations to design a product that was fit for the kick-scooter market. The final concept folds into a smaller footprint than the original with the back wheel sliding into the main body, all the while trying to offer a high quality option and the chance to pretend and play. The design brings a prominent status to the scooter, which in the end is what the Vespa brand is all about.

SolidWorks model of original scooter

Concept generation

Vespa Kick Scooter (unfolded)

Vespa Kick Scooter (folded)

Vespa Kick Scooter modelled in SolidWorks

FEA of handlebar iteration

FEA of scooter deck iteration

Vespa Kick Scooter