BRAND-NAME POWERED SCOOTERS WIN BACKING OF STALWARTS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - For 40 years, Malcolm Currie shot rockets into space and developed the most advanced tanks in the world.

At first glance, Currie seems overqualified to helm his eponymous firm. A former undersecretary of defense in the Ford administration, he holds twin doctorates in physics and engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. In the corporate world, he headed both Hughes Aircraft and Delco Electronics before launching Currie Technologies on a post-retirement whim in 1997.

``I went from building satellites to building these,'' he smirked, wheeling one of his kid-friendly electric scooters through Currie Technologies' Van Nuys offices.

The firm will be building a lot more of the gizmos following a recently completed deal with Pacific Cycle. Now, the stalwarts of the two-wheel world - Schwinn, GT and Mongoose - will lend their names to Currie Technologies' scooters debuting in stores in September. Executives for both firms expect the deal to grow each brand's market standing significantly, with Currie literally powering the deal.

At Hughes, he oversaw 85,000 workers and had annual sales of $14 billion. Today, his staff is a modest 25, his revenues are in the $15 million range, and he's quite satisfied. Launched on a whim in his retirement, the small firm has grown to become a strong presence in the growing electric scooter market.

Marketed both toward adults looking for added mobility and a younger, more adventuresome consumer, the scooters harness electric propulsion technology that Currie began toying with in his days at Hughes. Originally harnessed to electric bikes, Currie Technologies adapted the motors to cash in on the burgeoning scooter market in 2000. They've sold steadily, mostly to enthusiast stores with some models landing in Wal-Mart offshoot Sam's Club. Last year, they shipped 50,000 of the vehicles, and with Pacific's brand names slapped onto them, Currie figures sales will triple within two years.

``It's extremely expensive to build a brand name, because marketing expenses are like a black hole in outer space,'' he said. ``You throw endless amounts of money into them and you never see it again. Currie's not a brand name, but these are.''

That can make all the difference to a shopper, said Hal Kassarjian, a professor of marketing at California State University, Northridge.

``The name carries a great deal of power,'' he said. ``With a familiar brand, it tells you a lot. Especially on something like this, where you don't know much about it. If it has the name Schwinn on it, it means a lot. They're a big company, so you can depend on it, whereas some little company that no one's never heard of, there's higher risk.''

With the power of the larger brand names, Currie also will be able to muscle into wider channels of distribution, opening new markets that were previously unattainable. Rather than staying strictly in bike shops, they'll allow the smaller firm to push its products into larger sports retailers and all the places Pacific's bikes sell.

Though the scooters, which come in four different varieties, share the same technology, based on various permutations of the firm's patented motor, the branding will prove important for marketing purposes. GT and Mongoose, pioneers in the BMX segment, will be pushed toward the youth market; Schwinn appeals to a more mature consumer.

``If you're a businessman in a three-piece suit, you probably don't want to be going around on a Mongoose scooter,'' said Richard Wittenberg, Pacific Cycle's vice president of marketing and business development.

None of the wheeled gadgets is particularly a speed demon, with their velocity governed to a maximum 15 mph to stay within California legal requirements. For consumers willing to pay $499 for the high-end Mongoose models, however, they boost ample low-end torque so getting to that 15 mph quickly poses no problem. With delicate handling, the 24-volt motors can be revved enough to pop wheelies and other aggressive stunts.

With plans laid to grow the scooter line's reach dramatically, sales already brisk and ideas to branch out into adult transportation in the works, Currie only has one main problem: figuring out what's next. So far, the technology has managed to hold up in all its applications, leaving its creators wondering how they can adapt it to a new challenge - the kind of challenges its founder has sought out for all of his professional career.

``We've got a motor that's so powerful we could probably climb Mount Everest with it,'' Currie said. ``But it's so strong, we don't really know what to do with it.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Currie Technologies sales manager Greg Nesen, left, and CEO Malcolm Currie display the firm's newest style of electric scooter. They just signed a deal with Pacific Cycle.

(2 -- color) The Lightning FS scooter will carry the name brands of Schwinn and Mongoose.

(3 -- color) With Pacific's brand names slapped on them, scooter sales are expected to triple.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News