There are plenty of scooterists who also appreciate a motorcycle, and maybe it’s because of the Italian style and vague relationship with our beloved Vespa and Lambretta scooters, but brands like MV Agusta and Ducati are often appreciated. Personally I quite like a Ducati Monster, but part of that is probably that it suits those with a less than lengthy inside leg!
Anyway, those who also appreciate other classic scooters know full well that Ducati have dabbled with scooters in the past. Well, the latest rumour is that with new owners Audi at the helm, the Bolognese manufacturers are talking scooters once again.
Current Ducati CEO, Claudio Domenicali, in a recent interview with Italian magazine moto.it was asked directly whether Ducati had dismissed the idea of building and selling a scooter, Mr. Domenicali replied that “having a Ducati-branded scooter is not blasphemy”.
The Ducati Cruiser was a premium machine when it was launched in 1952, designed in cooperation with Ghia, Giovanni Fiorio responsible for the development of the single cylinder, 175cc air-cooled 4-stroke engine that produce a claimed 7.5hp. The Cruiser topped out at 50mph on its 2.45×10 tyres. It also featured automatic transmission, but it was all a bit too much for the market. The Cruiser was unable to compete with successful models such as the Vespa and the Lambretta, and after only two years and approximately a thousand models, the production line was halted.
The second Ducati scooter, the Brio, was unveiled in 1963 and this more affordable scooter was aimed at the younger market. At first a 48cc 2-stroke, 3-speed engine was fitted, an 80cc added shortly afterwards, both evolving to be 50cc and 100cc models before Ducati once again exited the scooter market a few years later (for more about the classic range of Ducati motorbikes and scooters, visit the official Ducati website).
So what of a new Ducati scooter then? Well first of all we should remind you that all Claudio Domenicali basically said was that they hadn’t dismissed the idea completely, but what if they did decide to produce a new scooter?
Back in 2012 freelance designer Oberdan Bezzi, in the early days of Audi ownership came up with the above design which SIP Scootershop posted online.
A maxi scooter is our guess, as in today’s market a small capacity sports scooter is likely to be a fairly boring 4-stroke auto. Aprilia and Gilera on the other hand both offer a 850 V-twin which is right up Ducati’s street, and with the 530cc Yamaha Tmax twin being a best seller in Italy, our guess is these are the scooter Ducati would set in their sights. If they ever return to scooter production.