We have a particular affinity for modern Vespa scooters around here. Our founding editor, Chris Hunter, used to commute on one in Sydney, I used to commute on one in Cape Town, and our good friend, Winston Yeh, bops around Taipei on his (a black one, naturally). But we wouldn’t have the first clue on how to customize a modern Vespa.
They’re cute enough as they are, begging to be lightly accessorized rather than heavily modified. It takes a lot of imagination to look past the iconic bodywork and see something radically different. Luckily, Adam Eldridge has imagination in spades.

Based in Austin, Texas, Adam’s a fabricator who’s spent the last two decades honing his craft. Working under the banner of Python Lair Designs, he’s built custom bicycles, choppers, and hot rods, and has even tackled interior architectural metalwork. The commission for the Vespa came from Guido DeVita?an enigmatic 70-something-year-old petrolhead with an equal love for cars and bikes, and zero regard for convention. Adam’s done regular work for Guido’s business, ilGaragista, and describes it as ?a custom shop with no boundaries other than a checkbook.?

Thanks to their rapport, Adam had free rein to go wild on the 2003-model Vespa GT 200. So he went all-in, tearing the Vespa GT 200 down until all that remained was its engine housing, front fork, and wheels. But first, he measured every inch of the stock bike, imported those measurements into the 3D desig...