Page 14 - North Haven Magazine Issue 33 Spring 2024

The Iconic

by Nick Casella

Now, more than ever, it continues to impress...

The very first Vespa rolled out of the facilities to instead create low-cost
factory 78 years ago this spring in the personal transport for the masses.
town of Pontederia, just west of the
Tuscan port city of Livorno, Italy. Today, In accepting this challenge, he chose
the iconic Vespa is more popular than the outstanding designer Corradino
ever. Anyone who is in the market for D’Ascanio for the task of designing
a scooter realizes that there are many a never-before-seen vehicle - the
to choose from, both gas and electric. Vespa. D’Ascanio was an engineer
But if they do their homework and do that worked in the aviation industry
not mind spending a few more dollars, during the war. He was handed the
they soon find out that the Vespa is at task of designing a vehicle that would
the top of the list. help to mobilize a population with a
devastated transport network. Oddly
enough, he did not like motorcycles
because you had to swing your leg
across the motorcycle to mount it.
His aviation designing experience
would influence his design for the
Vespa, which with very few design
improvements over the years, has
retained its iconic shape. Despite a
slow start, it proved so successful that
within a handful of years it was being
produced in its tens of thousands
Many parts of Italy were bombard- around the globe.
ed and left in ruins during the World
War 2. In 1946, soon after World War
2 ended, Italian industry had to be guage possessed a new verb, Vespare,
rebuilt. Spawning from the rubble, to go somewhere on a Vespa.
there was a massive need for a quick,
smooth, and cheap means of trans- In 1953, the Vespa got its interna-
portation for all those who could not tional movie premier in the romantic
afford a motorcycle or an automobile. comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and
Industrialist Enrico Piaggio, who was Gregory Peck as they whisked through
in the process of rebuilding his de- Rome in the movie Roman Holiday. It
stroyed aeronautic plant, thanks to is said that that this movie premier
the Allied bombings, decided to use was worth 100,000 sales for the Ves-
the company’s aircraft manufacturing D’Ascanio’s Vespa was not only seduc- pa. By the 1960s it was a cultural icon
tive, but it satisfied the need for an in- in movies and fashion. The Vespa took
expensive and reliable means of trans- Europe by storm throughout the 60s
portation. Women certainly loved and 70s because of its affordability
the Vespa because the step-through and ease of use throughout Europe’s
frame meant that they could ride it small streets and continues in popu-
in skirts, and its concealed engine – larity today throughout the rest of the
tucked under the seat or over its small world.
back wheel – kept oil, grease, and
dirt from chic Italian clothes. Within By the 1980s it was a stand-alone
months of Enrico Piaggio’s venture brand reigning over the whole scoot-
going into production, the Italian lan-

14 North Haven Magazine - Spring Issue 2024