vespa work

Introduction to How Vespas Work

The Vespa scooter has been many things to many people. To post-war Italy, it represented an economic resurgence for a struggling industrial family. To British teens of the early 1960s, it was a vital aspect of a cultural and fashion trend. For people in developing countries, Vespas can be an important and affordable means of transportation. And for some, Vespas just represent nostalgic fun.

Motorcycle Image Gallery

Photo courtesy of Trident 13 A 1998 Vespa ET4 125cc. See more motorcycle pictures.

In this article, we’ll look at what Vespas are, how they are made, the history behind the scooter and the Vespa style that has made it so popular.

Photo courtesy of Liftarn The front wheel, which is fastened to the end of an axle.

Why Scooters?
Scooters are two-wheeled vehicles powered by a small engine. Although it’s similar in concept to motorcycles, it has some important differences. The wheels of a scooter are fastened to the end of a short axle, rather than being mounted between a “fork” in the frame. The engine is usually concealed in a cowling of some kind, making them quieter and less likely to get oil or grease on the rider’s clothes. Scooters generally have less horsepower than motorcycles. The overall effect is a more “civilized” vehicle meant for practical daily use. Today, a scooter can be defined as a two-wheeled vehicle built on a monocoque frame with a 250 cubic centimeter (cc) engine or smaller. There are scooters with larger engines, but they essentially represent a subclass of vehicles in between scooters and motorcycles. Many jurisdictions legally consider them motorcycles.

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­People choose to drive scooters for a number of reasons, not the least of them is the exceptional gas mileage a scooter can provide. Most models can achieve better miles per gallon (mpg) ratings than all cars, but the most eco-friendly hybrid cars are in the 60-70 mpg range--equal to the Vespa.

Scooters are also convenient. Navigating city traffic and tight urban streets is a lot easier on a scooter than in an SUV, and parking is no problem. For those living in rural areas, a scooter is a great way to make relatively short trips. They’re easier to ride than a motorcycle, and the body panels ensure that clothes aren’t likely to be splashed with mud and road dirt.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Thompson The front panel of the Vespa.

A scooter is a lot easier on the wallet than a car, as well. A brand new scooter can be as little as $800, with many scooters available for less than $2,000. Of course, a scooter with the legendary Vespa name on it often comes at a premium (prices range from $2,000 to over $6,000), and vintage scooters go for collector’s prices, sometimes fetching thousands of dollars.

Photo courtesy of Coolcaesar A Vespa store selling many varieties and colors.

For some scooter enthusiasts, it’s a matter of style. The shape of a Vespa evokes a fun retro feeling that many riders enjoy as they cruise around town. Anyone who considers themselves a Mod (which we’ll explain later) simply can’t do without a Vespa.

Inside a Vespa

Photo courtesy of Wapcaplet A four-stroke engine.

A Vespa is a fairly simple vehicle. The body of the scooter also acts as the frame, and is made out of pressed steel. Known as a monocoque frame, this gives a scooter a good ratio of strength and rigidity compared to its weight. This differs from motorcycles, which are built on a welded frame made of beams or tubes of metal. The engine is usually rear-mounted (some newer designs have the engine in the front), either beneath or behind the driver’s seat. It is covered by an engine cowling or simply enclosed within the frame/body. The engine may be off-centered, because in most scooter models the engine is connected directly to the rear axle. This eliminates the need for a belt or chain-driven system, reducing complexity and increasing reliability. The first Vespas used two-stroke engines, but today almost all scooters use four-stroke engines for lower emissions and greater fuel efficiency.

Rather than sitting astride the vehicle, a scooter’s driver sits on the seat much like sitting on a cushioned stool, with the feet flat on the floor of the frame directly in front of the driver. This allows women to drive Vespas while wearing a dress or a skirt (a major consideration when the Vespa was first designed, and certainly a factor for some drivers today). The front panel protects the driver’s legs from splashes. Storage space is usually included under the seat or on the front panel.

Photo courtesy of ToyToy A Vespa with a rear, right-mounted engine.

Part of the original Vespa design specification was the wheels be easy to remove for the average person, and that the scooter carry its own spare. Modern scooters don’t all carry spares, but most of them have kept the stub axle design that allows a scooter’s wheels to be removed much like a car tire. The wheel is fastened to the frame only on one side, as opposed to a motorcycle wheel, which is placed between two frame rails (a fork), and may be connected to the drive system, further complicating removal. Scooter wheels range from eight to 12 inches.

Photo courtesy of Classic Vespas A classic Vespa with the spare tire mounted on the rear of the scooter.

Early Vespa models had manual transmissions controlled by twisting the left handlebar. It was connected to the transmission by a series of rods, giving these models the nickname “Rods.” Twisting the right handlebar controlled the throttle, with thumb controls for the horn and lights. Modern Vespas (except for intentionally retro models) are known as “twist-n-go” scooters, because the transmission is a continuously variable automatic. The driver doesn’t have to worry about shifting gears and can simply twist the throttle control to accelerate. Handlebar mounted squeeze levers control braking, much like you’d find on a bicycle; steering controls are also similar to a bicycle or motorcycle.

Vespa APE In addition to the two-wheeled Vespa scooter, the company also produced a three-wheeled utility vehicle called the APE (pronounced Ah-pay, it is Italian for bee). While APEs never became fashionable like other Vespas, they were ubiquitous in Southeast Asian cities by the 1960s and 70s. An enduring image for many veterans of the Vietnam War is that of Vietnamese cities thronged with APEs (and knock-off designs) loaded with cargo or people, the precarious freight seemingly defying the laws of physics. Such use is a testament to the durability of the small vehicles, which are still mainstays in urban areas of the Pacific Rim today. Photo courtesy of MartinHansV Piaggio Ape Delivery Van

Vespa History

Photo courtesy of M. Huwyler Model AMCA Troupes Aeról Portées Mle. 56 used by the French military in World War II.

Although the use of scooters does predate the introduction of the first Vespa, it popularized and mass produced them on a level not previously seen. Italian industry had suffered severely under Allied bombing during World War II, and many Italian industries were geared for wartime production. With the Italian economy struggling and much of their manufacturing facility in ruins, the Piaggio family sought a way to reinvent their business. They had been producing aircraft, but the demand was greatly reduced in post-war Italy.

Second-generation company owner Enrico Piaggio had an idea for a two-wheeled, inexpensive vehicle that would be cheap and reliable--perfect for financially struggling Italians who still needed a way to get around. There is a legend that Enrico was inspired by his employees, who had trouble getting from one part of the Piaggio facility to another due to large portions of it being bombed out. However, this same tale is told of Vespa competitor Lambretta, so the story is doubtful.

In any case, Piaggio called on aircraft engineer Corradino D’Ascanio to come up with a design. Unfettered by any preconceptions about what a motorcycle or scooter should look like, and aided by his experience designing sturdy, lightweight aircraft frames, D’Ascanio created a prototype from spare parts that fulfilled all of Enrico Piaggo’s wishes for the new vehicle. It just needed a name, and based on its shape and the sound of the engine, Piaggio decided to call it “Wasp.” The Italian word for wasp, of course, is vespa.

Photo courtesy of M. Huwyler An original Vespa with a sidecar attached.

Photo courtesy of Dave Lewis A 1969 Vespa Rally 180, a rare vintage scooter.

Sales in Italy began slowly in 1946, but by 1950 Piaggio was selling more than 60,000 units per year [Source: Patrick Taylor]. By that time, the Vespa name and design was being licensed for production in other countries as well. More than four million Vespas had been sold by 1969 (Brockway, 96), not counting licensed production.

In 1951, British motorcycle company Douglas began producing Vespas under license (they had been importing Piaggio-made models for two years prior). While the sales numbers for Douglas Vespas represent a fraction of overall sales, the cultural influence of the UK Vespa craze is difficult to understate and certainly increased worldwide popularity.

Despite financial difficulties in the 1980s and 90s, and several changes of ownership, the Piaggio Company and the Vespa names still exist. The 21st century has seen the reentry of Vespas into the North American market, the creation of high-end “touring” Vespas suitable for longer distance drives, and major upgrades in engine efficiency and power. In 2007, Piaggio introduced the MP3, a concept vehicle with two wheels in front and one in the rear. An advanced suspension and computer-controlled fuel injection make the MP3 a very futuristic scooter [Source: Piaggio USA].

Vespa’s Competition Initially, Vespa faced serious competition from Lambretta, a company with a similar history to Piaggio’s. While Lambretta scooters were considered equally stylish, Vespa controlled most of the market share. More competition arrived in the 1970s and 80s, as companies in India and Southeast Asia began mass producing inexpensive scooters for a market that was perfect for them. Many of these designs were based on Vespa licenses. Nevertheless, for many scooter enthusiasts, there’s only one name worth knowing: Vespa.

Vespa Style

For all its practicality, the Vespa has always been an icon of style. Its aircraft-heritage shape is considered by some to be the apex of Italian design; at the very least, it is a symbol that encapsulates Italian fashion, design, art and architecture of the mid-20th century. The Vespa’s success depended heavily on that sense of style.

Vespa hit the British market at the perfect time. Rapidly changing, fad-driven youth culture took up scooters as status symbols, incorporating them into the Mod movement, a subculture that favored modern fashions and a select group of rhythm & blues and British rock bands like the Kinks, the Who and the Small Faces. The scooters were easier to obtain by teenagers than cars, and allowed them to get home from concerts and clubs after public transportation had stopped running for the night. Mods liked to customize their Vespas with elaborate chrome frames, footrests and extra rearview mirrors – sometimes dozens of them [Source: Vespa Classics].

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on a Vespa in the film Roman Holiday.

While the Mod craze was burning itself out by the mid-60s, it began moving into the mainstream (as youth culture tends to do). British TV and movie stars latched onto the “hip” Mod image, and soon could be seen riding Vespas on screen and off, in advertisements for the latest model and promoting Vespa contests. This popularity soon moved to American celebrities - stars like Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda and Audrey Hepburn were pictured on Vespas (Brockway, 25). Once Vespas were associated with celebrities, their popularity spread worldwide.

More than 60 years after they were created, Vespas inspire a devoted following among an international scooter-loving subculture. Vintage Vespas and retro remakes are lined up for club meetings, day-long rides and even long-distance runs. Niche magazines cater to the Vespa enthusiast, and decades-old scooters are sent to restoration experts to be returned to their original glory.

For more information on Vespas, motorcycles and related topics, check out the links on the next page.

Lots More Information

maintenance vespa

09/18/03 - I've been really busy, but I've got a whole lot of pictures, so i just have to sort em out and make some captions. I added a little blurb on the P200 front end to the body work section. The tutorial goes through the steps for almost everything on the frontend except the column lock. Things to come soon: Putting the motor back together, Installing a Rear shock, some vino stuff in the vino section, and some wiring tips so stay tuned.

04/12/03 - My MAMMOTH engine teardown page is complete. Have a look! Capital City Scooter Club is puttin' on Garden City Scooter Rally 2003 in Victoria, BC. Canada May 16-19th come and check it out. Or. or I'll tear down your engine! :) heh..

02/28/03 - Well it's been a year an a half, and since it's humble beginnings, the page has demanded a bit of bandwidth. I can't thank Bill at Scoot.net enough for helping me keep the project online. His generous donation of web space to all things scooters is just awesome. Check his site when you're done here for all kinds of scooter pictures and scooter event listings. In my spare time, I usually hang around on Scoot.net Chat in case you have a burning question or some suggestions for the site.

02/14/03 - I've been busy trying to demystify the various electrical black boxes on the P200. I learned some pretty interesting things about the workings of the CDI box, the Voltage Regulator and the Turn Signal System. I added the tutorials to the electrical section.

02/07/03 - I updated the tools section today. The new kit reflects pretty much everything I like to carry on trips. Have a look and compare to what you've got.. I'm going to continue adding specialty tools over the next while. Vespa's still running like a top.

07/09/02 - Well I made it from Victoria, BC to Seattle, WA on my Vespa. I don't give this thing enough credit. I went down to Insanity 15 hosted by the Vespa Club of Seattle. It was a great experience and I was just getting a hang of navigating Seattle :). I have a page full of photos from insanity and a few other events I have attended with the Vespa. Click Here To Go to the Photos. I didn't break a cable or anything!!!

04/17/02 - My scoot has been running great since the rebuild. I noticed that tandem gear cables are utter crap for clutch cables. Order the real cables unless you're in a serious pinch. The one I was using wore away in under a month. The proper clutch cable has been solid for 5 months and hasn't suffered from stretching. The Capital City Scooter Club is doing their rally this weekend.. hope to see all westcoasters in Victoria! It should be a great time! check The CCSC website for rally details!

03/18/02 - I have changed a few pieces of information regarding splitting the cases. Though I appreciate the comments on the ISBBS, I would rather have and comments directed to my email instead of the BBS. Thanks for the help.

03/15/02 - Some mad crazy action went on this week. I decided to drop the engine and do a cruciform replacement. It's all online so dig in. I have to give thanks to my cohorts in the CCSC for their help with this project. Cracking the cases is a life changing experience ;)) It's all in the engine section. There have been various updates here and there so wander around. The cruciform replacement material is in the engine section.

02/25/02 - New article on splitting rims the non-invasive way. Updated the Brake Installation article to reflect the proper way to install a cotter pin.

02/18/02 - New article on Brake Renewal added. Already 1000 hits to the site. Insane! Thanks everyone for the great comments!

02/05/02 - Updated Engine Section: How to Decoke your top-end. Make your bike happy and try this on for size. I will have a cowl repainting article soon as well as a beginners/buying guide.

01/19/02 - Updated the Tool Set to include my Glovebox tools.

01/13/02 - Replaced my clutch cable today. As usual, the tutorial is online. Have a gander in the framework section.

12/29/01 - My camera came back, they replaced it with a Sony P30. I now have the abilities to do movie clips. Woohooooo. Anyway, I added an article on making a spare tire for the P200. I added a new section for body work, since the bodywork is a major part of the upkeep on the P. See the sights, Keep that mail comin', I really appreciate the feedback.

11/16/01 - I added a tutorial on carburettor tuning to the fuel system section today. As always, let me know if you don't agree with something on the page. Thanks for all the input from users on the site! Time to sleep.

11/09/01 - Yep. I gotsta pay.. I think I will.. these ads are harshcore :). I changed the degree wheel page so it actually prints without using two pages. Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback, I will have some new articles soon.

11/08/01 - I put a printable degree wheel on the site in the electrical section. I am putting a carb tuning article together it will be available a little later. I noticed that there are advertisements appearing in the background of my site. cjb.net finally violated their original policy of NOT putting ads on the page. The good news is that they automatically pop to the back; the bad news is they are ads and I despise them. Just close them and ignore them. If you use bookmarks you could use the full site name instead at http://www.switchgearmusic.com/~bluedawg/vespafaq/ . I will post again if I get rid of them (I'm guessing they charge some amount of money. booo..) My digital camera is STILL in the shop. yeesh. so much for the "fast" extended warranty service I was promised. Did well on the midterms at least.

10/31/01 - I put up with a blinding 5 articles. I look forward to recieving input on the site. If any of this material is wrong, give me an argument for why and I will correct it. Time to study for mideterms. Keep checking this space for future updates. My digital camera died this week due to unknown causes, I have sent it in for warranty service and will get back to documenting all the stuff I do shortly. Have fun! Amare la Vespa!

09/29/01 - Construction begins: This site is a collection of personal experiences I have had with my 1981 Vespa P200E. If the site seems a little meager at first, give it a few months :). The P Series seem to be reliable machines, but they do need love from time to time. I decided to make a website with really easy to understand diagrams and detailed instructions to restoring your trusty steed to full health. I have a digital camera and I am really quite quick on the line drawings, so you can be sure this will be really visual. My brother is getting a rally 200 engine and we're going to rebuild it. Needless to say, I will put up instructions. If you don't see what you're looking for, please check the links section. This is also an on-line journal. If I rant from time to time, don't be too concerned.

Vespa History

Piaggio was founded in Genoa in 1884 by twenty-year-old Rinaldo Piaggio. The first activity of Rinaldo's factory was luxury ship fitting. But by the end of the century, Piaggio was also producing 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) and then, after World War II, witnessed the birth of the iconic Vespa.

The war, a radical watershed for the entire Italian economy, was equally important for Piaggio. The Pontedera plant built the state-of-the-art four-engine P 108 equipped with a 1,500-bhp Piaggio engine in passenger and bomber versions.

However Piaggio’s aeronautical plants in Tuscany (Pontedera and Pisa) were important military targets and on August 31, 1943 they were razed to the ground by Allied bombers, after the retreating Germans had already mined the pillars of the buildings and irrevocably damaged the plants.

To rebuild the Pontedera plants, Enrico Piaggio asked the Allies, who then occupied part of the grounds and of the buildings still standing, to arrange for the machinery transferred to Germany and Biella in northern Italy to be brought back.

This was done rapidly and Armando and Enrico Piaggio then began the process of rebuilding. The hardest task went to Enrico, who was responsible for the destroyed plants of Pontedera and Pisa.

Enrico Piaggio’s decision to enter the light mobility business was based on economic assessments and sociological considerations. It took shape thanks to the successful co-operation of the aeronautical engineer and inventor Corradino D’Ascanio (1891-1981).

A motor scooter was produced, based on a small motorcycle made for parachutists. 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.

But 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 you sit comfortably and safely, not balanced dangerously as on a high-wheel motorcycle.

Corradino D’Ascanio only needed a few days to refine his idea and prepare the first drawings 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.

On April 23, 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 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.

The Vespa became the Piaggio product par excellence, while Enrico personally tested prototypes and new models. His business prospects transcended national frontiers and by 1953, thanks to his untiring determination, there were more than ten thousand Piaggio service points throughout the world, including America and Asia. By then the Vespa Clubs counted over 50,000 members, all opposed to the “newborn” Innocenti Lambretta.

No less than twenty thousand Vespa enthusiasts turned up at the Italian “Vespa Day” in 1951. Riding a Vespa was synonymous with freedom, with agile exploitation of space and with easier social relationships. The new scooter had become the symbol of a lifestyle that left its mark on its age: in the cinema, in literature and in advertising, the Vespa appeared endlessly among the most significant symbols of a changing society.

In 1950, just four years from its debut, the Vespa was manufactured in Germany by Hoffman-Werke of Lintorf; the following year licensees opened in Great Britain (Douglas of Bristol) and France (ACMA of Paris); production began in Spain in 1953 at Moto Vespa of Madrid, now Piaggio España, followed immediately by Jette, outside Brussels.

Plants sprang up in Bombay and Brazil; the Vespa reached the USA, and its enormous popularity drew the attention of the Reader’s Digest, which wrote a long article about it. But that magical period was only the beginning. Soon the Vespa was produced in 13 countries and marketed in 114, including Australia, South Africa (where it was known as the “Bromponie”, or moor pony), Iran and China. And it was copied: on June 9, 1957, Izvestia reported the start of production in Kirov, in the USSR, of the Viatka 150 cc, an almost perfect clone of the Vespa.

Piaggio had begun very early on to extend its range into the light transport sector. In 1948, soon after the birth of the Vespa, production of the three-wheeler Ape van (the Italian for “bee”) derived from the scooter began, and the vehicle was an immediate success for its many possible uses. Numerous imaginative versions of the Vespa appeared, some from Piaggio itself, but mainly from enthusiasts - for example, the Vespa Sidecar, or the Vespa-Alpha of 1967, developed with Alpha-Wallis for Dick Smart, a screen secret agent, which could race on the road, fly, and even be used on or underwater.

The French army had a few Vespa models built specially to carry arms and bazookas, and others that could be parachuted together with the troops. Even the Italian army asked Piaggio for a parachutable scooter.

While the Lambretta was starting to enjoy some success, the Vespa was being copied and imitated in a thousand ways: but the uniqueness of the vehicle ensured Piaggio a very long period of success, so much so that in November 1953, the 500,000th unit left the line, followed by the one millionth in June 1956.

In 1960 the Vespa passed the two million mark; in 1970 it reached four million, and over ten million in 1988, making it a unique phenomenon in the motorised two-wheeler sector it has sold over 16 million units to date. From 1946 to 1965, the year Enrico Piaggio died, 3,350,000 Vespas were manufactured in Italy alone: one for every fifty inhabitants.

The boom of the Vespa, and the different business prospects of the Piaggio brothers, with Enrico concentrating on light individual mobility in Tuscany and Armando on the aeronautical business in Liguria, led the company to split. On February 22, 1964, Enrico Piaggio acquired the share in Piaggio & C. S.p.A. held by his brother Armando, who then founded “Rinaldo Piaggio Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche” (I.A.M. Rinaldo Piaggio).

The Vespa 50 had appeared the previous year, 1963, following the introduction of a law in Italy making a numberplate obligatory on two-wheelers over 50 cc. The new scooter was exempt from this law and was an immediate success. In Italy sales of vehicles with numberplates decreased by 28 per cent in 1965 compared to the previous year.

On the other hand, the Vespa, with its new “50” series, was a great success. The light Vespa was a successful addition to the Piaggio range and this displacement is still in production. To date almost 3,500,000 Vespa 50s have been built in different models and versions, the latest being the ET4 50 launched in autumn 2000. It is the first four stroke Vespa 50cc, and has a record range of over 500 km with a full tank.

The Vespa PX (125, 150 and 200cc) is the biggest sales success in the entire history of the Vespa. It is the “original vintage” - launched in 1977, it has sold over two million units, and as such is a favourite among those with a sense of nostalgia but also with the younger market.

The Vespa also has a racing career behind it. In Europe back in the Fifties, it took part, often successfully, in regular motor cycle races (speed and off-road), as well as unusual sporting ventures.

In 1952 the Frenchman Georges Monneret built an “amphibious Vespa” for the Paris-London race and successfully crossed the Channel on it. The previous year Piaggio itself had built a Vespa 125cc prototype for speed racing, and it set the world speed record for a flying kilometre at an average of 171.102 km/h.

The Vespa also scored a great success at the 1951 “International 6 Days” in Varese, winning 9 gold medals, the best of the Italian motorcycles. That same year saw the first of innumerable rallies with the Vespa: an expedition to the Congo, which was to be the first of a series of incredible journeys on a scooter that was intended primarily to solve the problems of urban and intercity traffic.

Giancarlo Tironi, an Italian University student, reached the Arctic Circle on a Vespa. The Argentine Carlos Velez crossed the Andes from Buenos Aires to Santiago del Chile. Year after year, the Vespa gained popularity among adventure holiday enthusiasts: Roberto Patrignani rode one from Milan to Tokyo; Soren Nielsen in Greenland; James P. Owen from the USA to Tierra del Fuego; Santiago Guillen and Antonio Veciana from Madrid to Athens; Wally Bergen on a grand tour of the Antilles; the Italians Valenti and Rivadulla in a tour of Spain; Miss Warral from London to Australia and back; the Australian Geoff Dean took one on a round-the-world tour.

Pierre Delliere, Sergeant in the French Air Force, reached Saigon in 51 days from Paris, going through Afghanistan. The Swiss Giuseppe Morandi travelled 6,000 km, much of it in the desert, on a Vespa he had bought in 1948. Ennio Carrega went from Genoa to Lapland and back in 12 days.

Two Danish journalists Elizabeth and Erik Thrane, a brother and sister, reached Bombay on a Vespa. And it is impossible to count the many European scooter riders who have reached the North Cape on their Vespas.

Few know that in 1980 two Vespa PX 200s ridden by M. Simonot and B. Tcherniawsky reached the finishing line of the second Paris-Dakar rally. Four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Henri Pescarolo helped the French team put together by Jean-François Piot.

The Vespa continues to travel: in 1992 Giorgio Bettinelli, writer and journalist, left Rome on a Vespa and reached Saigon in March 1993. In 1994-95 he rode a Vespa 36,000 km from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. In 1995-96 he travelled from Melbourne to Cape Town - over 52,000 km in 12 months. In 1997 he started out from Chile, reaching Tasmania after three years and 150,000 km on his Vespa across the Americas, Siberia, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. All in all, Bettinelli has travelled 254,000 km on a Vespa.

A Little Vespa History

I've always thought that the story of the vespa was pretty interesting, so I decided that I'd include a short summary of it on this page.

Vespas story begins in the bombed out, war-ravaged, Italy of 1945. All its people returning home from the battlefields, with no jobs, and very little hope of finding employment in a country so hard hit by such a major war. Most of the countries resources, food and vehicles had been used by Mussolini's army and now lay wasted and ruined. The Piaggio company that had produced airplanes (among other things) during the war lay in ruins too. The two owners, brothers Enrico and Armando Piaggio had to find a way to save their company, or watch it become another casualty of the war. They decided the best way to go would be to build a new form of transportation that would be fast, simple, easy on gas, and affordable. They considered motorcycles, but when they looked around and saw that what they had left to build with was mostly airplane parts. Ever notice that the front forks on a vespa scooter is just one sided? One side of the wheel, the left side, is open. It doesn't connect to the fork.

The first vespa forks were actual pieces of landing gear from Mussolini's airplanes, and the design has stuck since. Also, the first engines were used by the Italian Air Force as starter motors for their propeller planes. They would wheel up carts with engines mounted to them to spin the props/engines. The large amounts of airplane sheet metal were used to make a revolutionary new machine that would use its body as a frame also. Pretty clever, eh? The engine was so simple that it didn't even need an oil pump and by combining engine and transmission, a minimum of space was used. Most parts were cast in aluminum to prevent corrosion, the engine would only weigh 45 lbs.

There were only 6 moving parts!

The dirty hot mechanics of the machine would be put behind the driver, and legsheilds and a floorboard would help to keep road grime off the rider. The design would allow men to stradle the long seat as they would a motorcycle, but allow ladies to ride in a skirt with their knees together. The scooter would be tough enough to travel bumpy backroads, but quick enough to travel in cities with ease. When the people at the Piaggio plant saw the first hand-built Vespa they said, "who would buy that?".

The bulbous rear, thin mid section and wide front earned it the name "vespa" which means wasp in Italian. But people were hired and the scooters started rolling off the assembly line. They caught on like wildfire, so in demand that Piaggio had to triple the size of their already sizable factory. There were waiting lists and the Piaggio Company employed one fifth of the population of Italy in some capacity, and millions more abroad were selling the Vespa. In 1956, only 11 years after it started, Piaggio produced its 1millionth Vespa. A Vespa culture had sprung up, not only was it transportation, it was a hobby. Clubs began all over Europe and in America, there were several accessories you could buy such as a wicker child seat that attached to the front, or a vanity antennae that provided stations to a non-existant radio, flags, pinstriping, and lots of chrome. The vespa was well designed and largely trouble-free with simple maintenance.

It was easy to work on. It was unique. No young Italian would be without one, and now a new generation of Americans are discovering the great little wasp and reviving them. Alot of the vespas driven today outdate thier riders by a few years, but still provide reliable and fun transportation.