Sporty and Speed in this Vespa, for race

 Sporty and Speed in this Vespa 

Vespa Monthléry

    Sporting image of the Vespa, Piaggio turned its attention to record breaking in the hope of reviving a glorious pre-war tradition. On April 7 1950 on France's Montlhery circuit, three riders took turns as the Vespa spent 10 consecutive hours acquiring 17 world records: over 1 hour (average speed 134 km/h); over 100 miles (average 129.7 km/h), 500 miles (average 123.9 km/h), 1,000 km (average 124.3 km/h), and over 10 hours during which the Vespa covered 1,049 km. On a streamlined vehicle very similar to this (the Vespa 125 Circuit “alloy frame” of 1949) rider Dino Mazzoncini also performed brilliantly in track races, most memorably in the head-to-head between Vespa and Lambretta that took place on the Genoa Circuit (Corso Italia) and ended in a victory for Vespa in the motor scooter class.

    Piaggio Vespa is the ultimate emblem of what Italians call ‘La bella vita’ (translated as: the good life). However, Vespa was not always as elegant and trendy as we have come to know it today. In fact, the engineers of Piaggio built many prototypes with different chassis and frames

    The Vespa Monthléry was born out of antagonism with the Lambretta, which in 1949 set 13 speed records on the Roma-Ostia highway with a special model.

    The year after, in April 1950, Piaggio took up the challenge on the racing track in Monthléry, France. The faired bike – designed by Vittorio Casini, and ridden by pilots Mazzoncini, Spadoni and Castiglioni – set 17 new world records in ten hours (and over 1,049 kilometers!).

Vespa Siluro (torpedo)

    Pontedera’s green bullet smashed, among others, the speed records over the hundred and five hundred miles, as well as the hour record. It was obviously born to run.

    In 1951 Vespa broke its most prestigious record: the flying kilometer. On February 9th, between the 10th and the 11th kilometer of the motorway of Rome (near to Ostia), a Vespa engine with two opposed pistons (17.2 hp and 9500 rpm), designed by Corradino D’Ascanio, and led by Dino Mazzoncini, run the flying kilometer with a record time of 21.4 seconds with an average speed of 171.1 km/ h (106.25 mph)

Two-stroke single cylinder engine with opposed pistons

Power: 17.2 bhp at 9,500 revs

Bore: 42mm - Stroke: 45 mm - Displacement: 124.5 cc

Four-speed gear box

Tyres. 3.00-10" (built specifically by Pirelli for the trials)

Suspension: helicoidal spring at the front and shock absorber with callipers; rear with rubber pad and shock absorber with callipers