Vespa History

Vespa has not only left its mark on an entire era, but it has even become the symbol of a Europe struggling to rise from the ashes of the Second World War. Piaggio emerged from the conflict with its Pontedera plant completely demolished by bombing. Italy's crippled economy and the disastrous state of the roads did not assist in the re-development of the automobile markets.

Enrico Piaggio, the son of Piaggio's founder Rinaldo Piaggio, decided to leave the aeronautical field in order to address Italy's urgent need for a modern and affordable mode of transportation. The idea was to design a vehicle for the masses that could get post war Italy moving again.

An aeronautical engineer named Corradino D'Ascanio, responsible for the design and construction of the first modern helicopter, was given the job of designing a simple, robust and affordable vehicle. The vehicle had to be easy to drive for both men and women, be able to carry a passenger, and not get its driver's clothes dirty.

D'Ascanio, who could not stand motorbikes, dreamed up a revolutionary vehicle. Dipping into his knowledge of aeronautics, he designed a vehicle built on a frame with a handlebar gear, with the engine mounted on the rear wheel. The front fork, like an aircraft's landing gear, allowed for easy wheel changing.

From Enrico Piaggio's vision sprung the Vespa in the spring of 1946.

In April of 1946, the first 15 Vespas left the Pontedera plant. The first Vespa had a 98cc two-stroke engine giving 3.5 hp at 4,500 revs. It reached 60 kilometres per hour and had 3 gears.

This was a real two-wheeled utility vehicle that did not resemble an uncomfortable and noisy motorbike, but instead it emanated class and elegance at first sight.

In 1884, 20-year-old Rinaldo Piaggio founded a luxury ship-building company in Genoa, Italy, which later expanded into smaller marine craft, then land-based transport, including rail carriages, automobiles, and then aeronautics by the early 1940s.

Just as entrepreneur Henry Ford created individual transport for the masses in the United States with his Model T, another entrepreneur, Enrico Piaggio, a descendant of the company founder, devised a transportation counterpart - the Vespa motor scooter - in 1946 in post-war Italy. As the country emerged from the destruction of World War II, Enrico Piaggio quickly rebuilt his factory in the Tuscany town of Pontedera and focused on providing his recovering nation with an economical but modern mode of urban transportation. Thus, the Vespa scooter rose like a phoenix from the ashes of war to become one of the first positive symbols of a reborn Italy - a symbol of the country's sunny, beautiful, resilient and vital nature.

For the Vespa project, Piaggio enlisted Corradino D'Ascanio, an aeronautical engineer. Using his extensive expertise in aeronautics, design and engineering, D'Ascanio created a simple and affordable vehicle that could be driven easily by men and women of any age. The scooter could also carry a passenger, and most importantly, did not soil the clothes of riders and passengers as motorcycles of the time were likely to do.

D'Ascanio created a 98cc scooter with a host of radical design concepts that included a sleek, stress-bearing structure. He moved the gear shift lever to the handlebar to make riding easier, positioned the engine under the rear wheel, and replaced the typical fork support with an aeronautical-style arm, similar to an aircraft carriage, to make tire-changing easier. His elegantly styled body design protected the driver from road dirt and the elements.

The resulting two-wheeled scooter was sleek, sophisticated and bore little resemblance to uncomfortable and noisy motorcycles. Combining the best elements of automotive, aeronautical and motorcycle design, the Vespa instantly became an icon of design and economy. Upon seeing the original prototype, Piaggio's president remarked "It looks like a wasp!" (or in Italian "vespa") and the name stuck.

The Vespa's popularity quickly spread around the globe following its debut at Rome's elegant Golf Club and the 1946 Milan Fair. It was an immediate success. By 1951 Piaggio had sold 100,000 Vespas. The New York Times called it "a completely Italian product, such as we have not seen since the Roman chariot."

Vespa clubs suddenly spread like wildfire across Europe. By 1952, worldwide Vespa Club membership surpassed 50,000. Enthusiasts began customizing their scooters, attaching sidecars and even skis to use their Vespas for downhill skiing or to pull skiers. One intrepid Frenchman, Georges Monneret, turned his Vespa into an amphibious vehicle so he could cross the English Channel in a London-to-Paris rally.

The scooter became synonymous with freedom, and the ever-relaxing social relationships of the post-war world. By the 1960s, the Vespa, originally conceived as a utility vehicle, had become an object of imagination and desire. Decades before Macintosh used the image, Piaggio instituted a revolutionary advertising campaign featuring an apple with a bite missing from it and the tagline "Chi Vespa magia le mele" or "He who Vespas eats the apple," imbuing the scooter with a sense of daring, indiscretion and desire. In the words of award winning Italian author Umberto Eco, "The Vespa came to be linked, in my eyes, with transgression, sin and temptation."

Hollywood and the arts naturally gravitated to the fashionable Vespa. In cinema, literature and advertising Vespas appeared as significant symbols of the changing society. By 1962, more than 60 movies had featured the Vespa. Writer John Steinbeck included the scooter on the cover of his novel The Short Reign of Pippin IV. Celebrities as diverse as John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin, Natalie Wood, Charlton Heston, Jean Paul Belmondo, Ursula Andress, William Holden, Britt Ekland and Henry Fonda were regularlyphotographed enjoying "La Dolce Vita" on their Vespas. George Lucas even showcased one in the opening scenes of American Graffiti.

Used by generations of people, young and old, the Vespa has never fallen out of fashion. In 1996, when the Vespa celebrated its 50th anniversary, more than 15 million of the scooters had been sold worldwide. Over the last 56 years the Vespa motor scooter has continued to re-invent itself, becoming even more associated with the freedom, and the carefree, relaxed attitude indicative of the Italian style.

During the 1980s Piaggio was obliged to stop selling its Vespa in the United States, where it had been available since 1951, due to the increasingly stringent demands of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, Vespa restoration shops across North America helped keep the vintage Vespas on the road and the allure and excitement of the Vespa culture alive. Two dozen repair shops served as resources for Vespa enthusiasts eager to restore their beloved scooters with genuine spare parts, using qualified mechanics. These restoration facilities also provided meeting grounds for Vespa "tifosi" - the die-hard Vespa fans - to gather and share their passion for the scooters.

On November 15, 2000, after a 15-year hiatus, the fabled Italian scooter returned to the United States to entice new generations as the first Vespa boutique opened in Sherman Oaks, CA. Piaggio USA, launched the U.S. return with two models - the 50cc Vespa ET2 ($2,980) and the 150cc Vespa ET4 ($3,980). Both models are available with an automatic gearbox and an electric start.

STARRING VESPA
Since its debut in 1946, the Vespa has been immortalized in film, music, literature and advertising and featured at international events around the globe. Here are some of the many legendary films and other media that have featured the Vespa.

FILMS
· Professor Nachtfalter - Directed by Rolf Meyer and starring Johannes Heesters and Gisela Schmidting, it was the first movie to feature the Vespa.
· La Dolce Vita - Directed by Federico Fellini, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg
· The World of Suzie Wong - Directed by Richard Quine, starring William Holden
· The Happy Road - Directed by and starring Gene Kelly
· An American in Paris - Directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly
· II Bidone (The Swindle) - Directed by Federico Fellini, starring Broderick Crawford and Giulietta Masini
· Cani e Gatti (Dogs and Cats) - Directed by Leonardo De Mitri, starring Antonella Lualdi and Titina de Filippo
· L'Avventura - Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, starring Gabriele Ferzetti and Monica Vitti
· Europa di Notte (Europe by Night) - Directed by Alessandro Blasetti, starring Domenico Modugno
· Lovers Must Learn / Rome Adventure - Directed by Delmer Daves, starring Troy Donahue, Angie Dickinson and Suzanne Pleshette
· Caro Diario and Palombella Rossa - Directed by and starring Nanni Moretti
· The Conversation - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford
· American Graffiti - Directed by George Lucas, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison Ford
· Quadrophenia - Directed by Franc Roddam: musical with songs by The Who, starring Sting
· Absolute Beginners - Directed by Julien Temple, starring David Bowie and Patsy Kensit
· American Pie - Directed by Paul Weitz, starring Mena Suvari
· Austin Powers - Directed by Jay Roach, starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley
· Of Love and Shadows - Directed by Betty Kaplan, starring Antonio Banderas and Jennifer Connelly