Despite its Italian name, the Piatti scooter was of Belgian (and later, British) manufacture, being originally produced in 1954 in Belgium by

D'Ieteren D'Ieteren SA () is a company, based in Belgium that is engaged in automobile distribution and vehicle glass repair and replacement (VGRR). Activities D'Ieteren is a group of services to the motorist, founded in 1805. D'Ieteren Auto distribu ...

. Its name came from its designer, Vincent Piatti. In 1956, production also commenced at the Cyclemaster works at

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its winding ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England.''

The Motor Cycle ''The Motor Cycle'' was one of the first British magazines about motorcycles. Launched by Iliffe and Sons Ltd in 1903, its blue cover led to it being called "The Blue 'un" to help distinguish it from its rival publication ''Motor Cycling (maga ...

'', two-page road test, 7 March 1957, pp.298-299. Accessed 15 June 2019 However, the increasing availability of affordable small cars in Europe affected sales of the Piatti (and other scooters) and production eventually ceased. According to Erwin Tragatsch in a brief entry on the Piatti scooter in his ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles'', Cyclemaster "failed to find many customers for this product", and manufactured only a small number before British production terminated. The Piatti scooter has the dubious distinction of being, in the words of

Bob Currie Robert Frank Currie (26 April 1918 in Woolwich, England – 25 July 1988 in Birmingham, England) was an English motorcycling writer and road tester, who later became a magazine editor and book author. Mainly known for his UK journalism work wit ...

(author of ''Great British Motorcycles of the Sixties''), "the worst scooter ever perpetrated."

Notes

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External links

Alan Abrahams, 'The Piatti Scooter'
Motor scooters Scooter manufacturers