EARLY VESPA , HISTORY

 Scooter History

EARLY VESPA , VESPA HISTORY

  

  Founded in Genoa in 1884 by twenty-year-old Rinaldo Piaggio, Piaggio initially undertook luxury ship fitting before going on to produce rail carriages, goods vans, luxury coaches and engines, trams and special truck bodies.

World War I brought a new diversification that was to distinguish Piaggio activities for many decades. The company started producing aeroplanes and seaplanes. At the same time, new plants were springing up.

    In 1917 Piaggio bought a new plant in Pisa, and four years later it took over a small plant in Pontedera which first became the centre of aeronautical production (propellers, engines and complete aircraft, including the state-of-the-art Piaggio P108 in passenger and bomber versions).

    Before and during World War II, Piaggio was one of Italy’s top aircraft manufacturers. For this reason, its plants were important military targets and the Piaggio factories in Genoa, Finale Ligure and Pontedera were irrevocably damaged by the war.

The 1946 Invention

    

Rinaldo Piaggio’s sons Enrico and Armando began the process of re-starting industrial production immediately after the war. The hardest task went to Enrico, who was responsible for the destroyed Pontedera plant. He arranged for part of the machinery transferred to Biella in Piedmont to be brought back.

    Enrico Piaggio opted for an industrial reconversion, focusing on personal mobility in a country emerging from war. He gave shape to his intuition, building a vehicle destined to become extremely famous, thanks to the extraordinary design work of the aeronautical engineer and inventor Corradino D’Ascanio (1891-1981).

Vespa: The Birth of a Legend

    The Vespa (which means "wasp" in Italian) was the result of Enrico Piaggio’s determination to create a low cost product for the masses. As the war drew to a close, Enrico studied every possible solution to get production in his plants going again – starting from Biella, where a motor scooter was produced, based on a small motorcycle made for parachutists.

"Paperino"

    The prototype, known as the MP 5, was nicknamed "Paperino" (the Italian name for Donald Duck) because of its strange shape, but Enrico Piaggio did not like it, and he asked Corradino D’Ascanio to redesign it.

    The aeronautical designer did not like motorcycles. He found them uncomfortable and bulky, with wheels that were difficult to change after a puncture. Worse still, the drive chain made them dirty. However, his aeronautical experience found the answer to every problem.

    To eliminate the chain he imagined a vehicle with a stress-bearing body and direct mesh; to make it easier to ride, he put the gear lever on the handlebar; to make tyre changing easier he designed not a fork, but a supporting arm similar to an aircraft carriage.

    Finally, he designed a body that would protect the driver so that he would not get dirty or dishevelled. Decades before the spread of ergonomic studies, the riding position of the Vespa was designed to let the rider sit comfortably and safely, not balanced dangerously as on a high-wheel motorcycle.

    Corradino D’Ascanio’s drawings had nothing to do with the Paperino: his design was absolutely original and revolutionary compared to all the other existing means of two-wheeled transport. With the help of his favourite designer Mario D’Este, Corradino D’Ascanio took only a few days to prepare his first sketches of the Vespa, first produced in Pontedera in April 1946.

    It got its name from Enrico Piaggio himself who, looking at the MP 6 prototype with its wide central part where the rider sat and the narrow "waist", exclaimed, "It looks like a wasp!" And so the Vespa was born.

The First Vespa Patent

    On 23 April 1946 Piaggio & C. S.p.A. filed a patent with the Central Patents Office for inventions, models and brand names at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Florence, for "a motor cycle with a rational complex of organs and elements with body combined with the mudguards and bonnet covering all the mechanical parts". In a short space of time the Vespa was presented to the public, provoking contrasting reactions.

    However, Enrico Piaggio did not hesitate to start mass production of two thousand units of the first Vespa 98 cc. The new vehicle made its society debut at Rome’s elegant Golf Club, in the presence of the U.S. General Stone who represented the Allied military government.

    Italians saw the Vespa for the first time in the pages of Motor (March 24, 1946) and on the black and white cover of La Moto on April 15, 1946. They saw the actual vehicle at that year’s Milan show, where even Cardinal Schuster stopped to take a look, intrigued by the futuristic vehicle.

From Scepticism to Reality

    Two versions of the Vespa 98cc went on sale with two prices: 55,000 liras for the "normal" version and 61,000 liras for the "luxury" version with a few options including a speedometer, lateral stand and stylish white-trim tyres. Manufacturers and market experts were divided: on one side the people who saw the Vespa as the realisation of a brilliant idea, and on the other the sceptics, who were soon to change their minds.

    The initial problems led Enrico Piaggio to offer Count Parodi, who manufactured Moto Guzzi motorcycles, distribution rights for the Vespa so as to get his vehicle into the retail network of the better-known brand. Count Parodi refused outright, estimating that the Vespa would flop, and the scooter was therefore initially sold through the Lancia network.

    In the last months of 1947 production exploded and the following year the Vespa 125 appeared, a larger model that was soon firmly established as the successor to the first Vespa 98.

    The Vespa "miracle" had become reality, and output grew constantly; in 1946, Piaggio put 2,484 scooters on the market. These became 10,535 the following year, and by 1948 production had reached 19,822. When in 1950 the first German licensee also started production, output topped 60,000 vehicles, and just three years later 171,200 vehicles left the plants.

    Foreign markets also watched the birth of the scooter with interest, and both the public and the press expressed curiosity and admiration. The Times called it "a completely Italian product, such as we have not seen since the Roman chariot".

    Enrico Piaggio continued tenaciously to encourage the spread of the Vespa abroad, creating an extensive service network all over Europe and the rest of the world. He maintained constant attention and growing interest around his product, with a number of initiatives that included the foundation and spread of the Vespa Clubs.

The Vespa became the Piaggio product par excellence, while Enrico personally tested prototypes and new

    The Vespa story begins in the aftermath of WW II in Italy.  The economy was left crippled and the roads were in a disastrous state which made it difficult for the automobile and other manufacturers to reemerge. The Piaggio family, who was involved in the aerospace industry, decided to find a way to reinvent their business by addressing Italy’s need for a modern and affordable mode of transportation for the masses.

    Second generation Enrico Piaggio had an idea for a 2 wheeled vehicle that would be inexpensive to produce and reliable, perfect for struggling Italians who still needed a way to get around.

    The first vehicle was created from spare aircraft parts that were actual pieces of landing gearsfrom Mussolini’s airplanes. It was designed by Corradino D’Ascanio. Because of the unique design, especially the front handle bars,

and its sound, it was named Vespa, the Italian word for wasp.

    The new Vespa scooter took off like wildfire across Europe. In 1956, only 11 years after it was created, Piaggio sold its 1 millionth Vespa. A Vespa culture had emerged. Not only was it a transportation but a hobby. Now a new generation of Americans are discovering the great little wasp and reviving them too!!!

    With this said, we are aiming to revive our own economy here on Daniel Island serving authentic Italian Neapolitan pizza and specialties using only the freshest and finest ingredients.