Vespa Piaggio: the history of a world icon

About that optimism of post-war Italy, about Dolce Vita, about the carefree and beautiful lifestyle that still leads to the fact that he has a crowd of fans, but not necessarily with nostalgia. Even if its roots go long before this period and in a completely different context.

Do you want to know his story? We stopped at Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, the largest motorcycle museum in Italy.and we have told many things about which we tell you here.

Love over a century

From the birth of Piaggio to Corradino D’Ascanio

Let’s start right from the beginning: Rinaldo Piaggio from Genoa founded his company in 1884. He started out as a luxury ship decorator and used wood as his main material, having inherited a steam-powered sawmill from his father. The activity was facilitated by marriage (arranged) with Elena Odero, daughter of the shipowner Niccolo.

His foresight in a period of great change led him over time to expand his activities into the construction of trains (including ten stainless steel trains for the FCL – Ferrovie Calabro Lucane, a specimen of which is displayed at the entrance of the Museum, perfectly preserved) and, with the outbreak of the First World War to the construction of aircraft. This latest evolution takes place between Pisa, thanks to the presence of an airport (the current military airport), and Pontedera, where airships were already being produced.

And here the figure takes over Corradino D’Ascanio, a brilliant engineer who developed the variable pitch propeller at the time.: in a nutshell, the prototype of a modern helicopter that set all international records for lift, range and flight duration in 1930. Enrico Piaggio, Rinaldo’s son, saw him, and that is how the history of the company took a radical leap since 1932.

Corradino D’Ascanio is, in fact, the father of the modern helicopter, but not only: it is also Vespa, Ape and four-wheeled Vespa projects. Such an important figure for Piaggio that there is a real festive space at the entrance to the area dedicated to the Vespa collection – inside the reproduction of his office you can also hear a recording with his voice and view a copy of the patent of our beloved two-wheeler. A monument to the man who, after all, changed the history of mobility with his ingenuity.

From military industry to mobility for all

At the end of the Second World War, Enrico Piaggio begins to evaluate the change in production: so he asks his engineers develop a two-wheeled vehicle that is less expensive than a carto compensate for the lack of public transport – in conditions where almost everything was destroyed. The first result isMP5 (Moto Piaggio 5), produced in very few copies between 1943 and 1944, known by the nickname “Paperino”.

A project that Piaggio did not particularly like, aimed at creating a vehicle useful to everyone: the Donald Duck was very small and impractical, inspired by the means of the British military who parachuted. He then turns to Corradino D’Ascanio, who really conceives a car for everyone, especially for women: who at that time rarely wore trousers in favor of long, wide skirts and who would not have been comfortable riding a regular motorcycle.

So the MP6 prototype it is larger and, above all, provides comfortable legroom between saddle and handlebars.. It also allows you to change the wheel more easily and has an enclosed motor to keep your clothes from getting dirty. Hence the Vespa, which enters the market in 1946, with an updated logo: from a model with two wings, reminiscent of aeronautics, we move on to a simple “P” for Piaggio.

Vespa Piaggio: most loved by Italians and all over the world

And here we have the first demonstration of how the Vespa Piaggio was and still is a symbol. First emancipation and progress: The first advertisement for the new “for everyone” scooter is aimed primarily at women. The famous one shows a woman in a business suit riding a Vespa to work, ironically saluting her male colleagues, who still ride wooden bicycles dressed in 19th-century garb.

Heralded success: this new car it’s dwindling in a revival population that wants to be anything but retrograde – thanks also to the possibility of buying in installments provided by Piaggio – and at the same time, with the support of Lancia, it almost immediately became known abroad, thus immediately gaining unlimited market opportunities.

In a short time, it became a real phenomenon of custom, giving rise, among other things, to neologisms (as in the Vespizzatevi advertisement, mainly to keep up with the times) and was adopted by cinema as a dream two-wheeler. . Do you remember, for example, led by the paparazzi Sweet life (1960), or in a very romantic scene Roman holiday (1953) starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck? By the way, both copies are exhibited in the museum (which caused me a tear of emotion).

But why Vespa? Legend has it that when Enrico Piaggio first heard the sound of an engine, he associated it with the hum of a Vespa. Even the shape of the vehicle, when viewed from above, resembles that of an insect, narrower in the center and wider at the rear.

Different models, different needs

With the economic boom, families have the opportunity to buy more cars. And it was here that Enrico Piaggio had the intuition to ask D’Ascanio for a Vespa designed for young people. No sooner said than done: here’s a Vespa 50 from 1963, for all Italians “il Vespino”, because it is smaller than the others, does not have a license plate, and can be driven without a helmet and without a license; followed in 1969 by the great success of the 50 Special. Another epochal change concerns colors: we are moving from colors of military origin to a wider and more exciting range designed for a new public.

Advertisements of the time reflected this youthful spirit and this pronounced sense of freedom, even with funny puns (“Who Vespa eats apples, who doesn’t Vespa”); and they also voiced the sexual revolution towards the end of the 1960s. The new model then gives way to a range of options designed to suit different tastes and needs.like the 1965 90 Super Sprint, a legendary car for young athletes, or the 1967 125 Primavera, a real cult for the youth of that time. Abroad, a youth subculture of mods that originated in London, whose essential kit included a parka, an Italian-style suit and a Vespa (remember the movie quadrophenia from 1979, which talked about the mod phenomenon, with a very blond and very young Sting?).

Continuing to the seventies and eighties, we see a further change in the audience, which is becoming more mature: introduced turn signals, mirrors and electric ignitionwhile advertising reflects more practical needs related to movement and smart living.

If you think that this is just nostalgia for the past, you are wrong.

At the Piaggio Museum, we were given the opportunity to board the new 125 Primavera: an opportunity the writer encountered in the Dolce Vita mood, complete with a scarf tied under the chin (under the helmet, ca va sans dire). For those who love vintage and romantic images, Vespa is a dream come true with a touch of nostalgia. But Vespa is not only that: its evolution over time and quick response to the most diverse needs proves it.

Thanks to enterprising fans, it has also become synonymous with travel in the fullest sense of the word, as stated in Giorgio Bettinelli’s famous novel Vespa. A philosophy of life that rhymes with a sense of discovery and freedom, is also supported by some vehicles designed for extreme conditions, such as use on the water (since the 1949 Moscone), on sand for the Vespa Desert Raid, or on snow for the Vespa Ice Race. But apart from these specific cases, there are many avid travelers who choose the Piaggio Vespa as the vehicle of choice for their explorations, taking care of it personally and religiously.

Once again, its sophisticated and timeless design has proven to be an excellent canvas for various collaborations: from artisticexhibited in one wing of the museum – from the alabaster Vespa by Mino Trafelli to the interpretations of the artists Giampaolo Talani and Luca Moretto – to fashionablecreated alongside famous houses, as in the case of the Vespa 946 Christian Dior, enriched with Dior Oblique details (a motif designed by Marc Bohan in 1967), or like the Vespa 946 Emporio Armani of 2015 with a matte black finish. Other exclusive collaborations are listed, such as the one developed with Justin Bieber.

last year, or a brand new one with Disney (for its 100th anniversary), which we told you about here.

In short, a global success that doesn’t seem destined to disappear or disappear. Like all these things, whether they are objects, projects or characters that can voice epochal changes, as well as become icons. And we don’t want pizza and pasta.