Indian design studio reimagines the Classic Vespa with a futuristic twist

The Vespa is a household name in the world of scooters. It refashioned the identity of a scooter and made it a style statement rather than exist as a model of utility and stood for passion, style and freedom.

The surprise comes in the form of a U.S. military motorcycle which went on to be the catalyst behind the style icon. Vespa was a result of a war-torn Italy back in WW2 when Cushman Airborne Motorcycles being dropped onto Italian soil to help the troops fight the Germans. When Italy was recovering from the wrath of the war, Enrico Piaggio who had his expertise in the field of aerospace was impressed with accomplished Italian engineer Corradino D’Ascanio’s design for an economy scooter that would catalyze the nation rebuilding, who didn’t find the Cushman Motorcycles to his liking. The wide rear arches coupled with its handlebar-mounted gear levers gave it a very distinct shape. A shape that was reminiscent of a Wasp (or the sound from the exhaust from these machines, depending on who you believe) hence the name, Vespa which is Italian for the insect, Wasp.

To this date, the Vespa remains a style icon having classic cues from the past while still remaining modern with its performance. But a certain design house thinks looking back at history will give more insight into the future and they’ve gone all the way to designing their own take on a futuristic Vespa. Mighty Seed Designs, who have their studios in Coimbatore and Kochi (earlier presented the HM Contessa Electric Concept) have come up with the Vespa 98 Electric Concept. The concept is a modern incarnation of a retro Vespa with its sleek styling cues and streamlining features. This is what you get when you combine the best of what both worlds can offer and would even make Corradino D’Ascanio proud!

Mighty Seed Designs managed to achieve this by staying true to the older Vespas. The front now looks bolder and wider than the original but they still managed to pull off the classic handlebar with a modern interpretation of it which is much sleeker. The mudguard still houses the headlight which in this instance is LED. The single-seat gives it a commanding presence. You would have noticed this scooter doesn’t have rearview mirrors. Mighty Seed has designed it to host Lidar technology placed at the rear to give notification to the rider much like blind-spot monitoring we have in cars.

This being an electric scooter, draws its energy from a 30 Ah lithium-ion battery pack that’s placed right in the belly of the scooter. Hub mounted motors not only help in transmitting the power to wheels directly but in this instance, achieve a sportier look than the original Vespa. The sloping tail lamp strip of the rear indicators stay unique to the Vespa 98 Concept while still adhering to the original indicators of a classic Vespa. While making a style statement, the Vespa 98 still remains practical thanks to its huge storage area available underneath, which makes the concept suitable for short holiday trips.

Mighty Seed Designs has truly remastered an already stylish Vespa, and we can’t wait for a workshop to turn this into reality.

You can get information on Vespa’s low-cost electric scooter for India here.