The wasp "takes flight”Officially buzzing through the Italian streets on 23 April 1946, when Enrico Piaggio registered the patent. Thus was born a scooter that will change not only the habits of Italians, but that will go beyond our own borders.
The Piaggio Vespa
The Piaggio until then she had dealt with something else entirely. Founded in 1884 by Rinaldo Piaggio and from his father in Sestri Ponente, he initially produced naval furniture and railway material. In 1915 he entered the aviation industry and in 1924 began producing the first Jupiter engines and Dornier Wal aircraft.
Then he moved on to the construction of aircraft with which in the 20s and 30s he conquered many firsts. In those years the technical staff of Piaggio directed by Corradino d'Ascanio developed and built the DAT 3, the first helicopter in history. In the beginning the name of the scooter was supposed to be "Donald Duck". Vespa is perhaps the acronym for Economic Vehicles, Joint Stock Company, or it seems that Enrico Piaggio, hearing the engine, compared it to the hum of a wasp. In any case, the scooter with 98 cubic centimeters, three gears, 3,2 horsepower, 60 km per hour, was immediately an incredible success.
The Vespa with sidecar
After having filed the patent, within a few months the Pontedera factories produced 2.500 scooters. The year after sales exceeded ten thousand pieces. The Vespa cost sixty-eight thousand lire, almost a year's salary, yet paying it in installments was affordable.
The Italian roads were populated with pilots with wife or girlfriend on the back seat for the Sunday outing. The Vespa was born with sidecar, with trolley, and then the bee that still goes around Italy. Piaggio between 1958 and 1964 also produced the ACMA model for France; progenitor of city cars. In 1955, France also asked Piaggio for a scooter for the paratroopers involved in the war in Indochina. Vespa riders soon became the protagonists of important rallies, worldwide. The most famous was “Eurovespa”, forty editions, the last of which in 2006 in Turin to coincide with the 60th birthday of the Vespa.
Scooters made in Italy
There were 3.500 regular members, over 4.500 non-registered for a total of 8.000 specimens present in the Stupinigi parade. The Vespa fans came from all over Europe but also from the United States, Canada, Argentina, Algeria, South Africa and Taiwan. The year after the show turned into Vespa World Days and at the 2007 edition in San Marino over 5 thousand scooters paraded.
In short, the Vespa is a timeless myth. It is now celebrated as one of the most famous industrial patents in the world and symbol of Italian design; entering by right also in museums, as in the Triennale Design Museum in Milan and at the MoMA in New York. The most romantic memory of the Vespa, however, dates back to 1953 with the film "Roman holidays" with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. That was the real consecration, with the scene then passed into the history of cinema. The Vespa becomes a symbol of light-heartedness, youth and freedom.
Vespa and Roman Holidays
The two actors riding the scooter also ended up in the posters of the film, with the Piaggio brand on display. The film acted as a flywheel, and it was not the only film. The Vespa still acted in "Quadrophenia" British film of 1979 set in London in the early sixties when the Mods went crazy in the streets.
There were many motorcyclists riding Vespas or Lambrettas. The Vespa is once again the protagonist in the film "Mr. Ripley's Talent", “American Pie”, “The Interpreter” and in music with Cesare Cremonini. However, it remains in the history of cinema, in beautiful black and white photos, in which Charlton Heston and Stephen Boyd riding a 1 VNA1959T; in stage costumes, they whiz around on a Vespa to move to Cinecittà during the filming of Ben-Hur.
