Convert your vintage Vespa, like a 1951 Vespa 125, into a battery-powered machine with a conversion kit from Retrospective Scooters. (Piaggio Group/)London-based Retrospective Scooters is offering vintage scooter enthusiasts a way to bring their rides into the 21st century with its Project E conversion kits. The Project E kits allow riders to swap out the old gas-powered components for an electric motor, battery, and a handful of other components. Retrospective currently offers kits for a variety of vintage Vespa models as well as kits for Lambretta scooters.
For example, if you happen to have a 1951 Vespa 125, like the one Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn tooled around on in Roman Holiday, you’d want to go with a Wide-Mount conversion kit. It includes a brushless DC motor, sinusoidal motor controller, single or double Samsung lithium-ion battery and tray, a battery gauge, custom swingarm, all the cables you’d need and an LED headlight conversion. It would run you 3,450 pounds sterling (or about $4,776) for the entire single battery package, before shipping and handling.
Retrospective has Wide-Mount, Large Frame, and Small Frame conversion kits for Vespa models, as well as conversion kits for Lambretta Li series 1-3, GP, and J range scooters. (Piaggio Group/)This setup would get you up to 40 miles range on a charge with a top speed of 55 mph. An hour and a half charge gets you up to 70 percent and 3.5 hours will fully charge the 64V battery. Batteries are made to be easily removed so you can charge them in your home or office.
Conversion kits will work for more modern editions as well, so be sure to check with Retrospective to ensure you get the right conversion kit for your scooter’s frame.
A look at the full conversion kit. (Retrospective Scooters/)Retrospective created these kits to be as straightforward as possible, making it possible for riders to install the full system themselves. It also offers ample support to those taking this route, or will do the complete conversion for you.
For more information on the Retrospective electric scooter conversion kits, head over to its website at retrospectivescooters.com. And be sure to check out the video below to see what a completed Small Frame Vespa conversion looks like.
