A superb and rare photo of the Vespa scooter.
The Vespa scooter
has a very interesting history that started -with the American made Cushman
scooter!! Post World War II Italy,
in light of its agreement to cessation of war activities with The Allies, had
its aircraft industry severely restricted in both capability and capacity.
Piaggio emerged from the conflict with its Pontedera fighter plane plant
completely demolished by bombing. Italy's crippled economy and the
disastrous state of the roads did not assist in the re-development of the
automobile markets. Enrico Piaggio, the son of Piaggio's founder Rinaldo
Piaggio, decided to leave the aeronautical field in order to address Italy's
urgent need for a modern and affordable mode of transportation for the masses.
The inspiration for the design of the Vespa dates back to Pre-WWII Cushman
scooters made in Nebraska,
USA.
These olive green scooters were in Italy in large numbers, ordered
originally by Washington
as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The US military had used them to get
around Nazi defence tactics of destroying roads and bridges in the Dolomites (a
section of the Alps) and the Austrian border
areas. Pre-war Piaggio employee Aeronautical engineer General Corradino
D'Ascanio, responsible for the design and construction of the first modern
helicopter by Agusta, was given the job of designing a simple, robust and
affordable vehicle for Ferdinando Innocenti, whose pre-war time focused metal
tubing business Innocenti had suffered the same fate as Piaggio post-war.
Innocenti defined a post-war vehicle to D'Ascanio that had to be easy to drive
for both men and women, be able to carry a passenger, and not get its driver's
clothes dirty. D'Ascanio, who hated motorbikes, designed a revolutionary
vehicle. It was built on a spar-frame with a handlebar gear change, and the
engine mounted directly on to the rear wheel. The front protection
"shield" kept the rider dry and clean in comparison to the open front
end on motorcycles. The pass-through leg area design was geared towards all
user groups, including women, as wearing dresses or skirts made riding a
motorcycle a challenge. The front fork, like an aircraft's landing gear,
allowed for easy wheel changing. The internal mesh transmission eliminated the
standard motorcycle chain, a source of oil, dirt, and aesthetic misery. This
basic design allowed a series of features to be deployed on the frame, which
would later allow quick development of new models. However, D'Ascanio fell out
with Innocenti, who rather than a moulded and beaten spar-frame wanted to
produce his Innocenti frame from rolled tubing, thereby allowing him to revive
both parts of his pre-War company. D'Ascanio disassociated himself with
Innocenti, and took his design to Enrico Piaggio to produce the spar-framed
Vespa from 1946. Innocenti, after overcoming design difficulties and later
production difficulties through his choice of a tubular frame, went on to
produce the more costly Lambretta line of motorscooters. On 23 April 1946, at 12 o'clock in the central office for
inventions, models and makes of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Florence, Piaggio e C.
S.p.A. took out a patent for a "motorcycle of a rational complexity of
organs and elements combined with a frame with mudguards and a casing covering
the whole mechanical part". The basic patented design allowed a series of
features to be deployed on the spar-frame which would later allow quick
development of new models. The original Vespa featured a rear pillion seat for
a passenger, or optionally a storage compartment. The original front protection
"shield" was a flat piece of aero metal; later this developed in to a
twin skin to allow additional storage behind the front shield, similar to the
glove compartment in a car. The fuel cap was located underneath the (hinged)
seat, which saved the cost of an additional lock on the fuel cap or need for
additional metal work on the smooth skin. The scooter had rigid rear suspension
and small 8-inch (200 mm) wheels that allowed a compact design and plenty
of room for the rider's legs. The Vespa's enclosed, horizontally-mounted
two-stroke 98 cc engine acted directly on the rear drive wheel through a
three-speed transmission. The twistgrip-controlled gear change involved a
system of rods. The early engine had no cooling, but fan blades were soon
attached to the flywheel (otherwise known as the magneto, which houses the
points and generates electricity for the bike and for the engine's spark) to
push air over the cylinder's cooling fins. The modern Vespa engine is still
cooled this way. The mixture of two-stroke oil in the fuel produced high
amounts of smoke, and the engine made a high buzzing sound like a wasp. The
first prototype was given the initials MP5 and baptized "Paperino,"
the Italian name for Donald Duck, a nick-name given to it by the workers because
of the strange shape it had. Enrico Piaggio did not like the design and asked
D'Ascanio to redesign it - which he did with a more aeronautical-derived
aerodynamic look. When the second prototype called MP6, was shown to Enrico
Piaggio and he heard the buzzing sound of the engine he exclaimed: "Sembra
una vespa!" ("It resembles a wasp!") The name stuck. Vespa is
both Latin and Italian for wasp—derived from both the high-pitched noise of the
two-stroke engine, and adopted as a name for the vehicle in reference to its
body shape: the thicker rear part connected to the front part by a narrow
waist, and the steering rod resembled antennae. Ape (pronounced Ah-pay), is
Italian for bee. This was the three-wheeled variant used for commercial
purposes, including the popular auto rickshaw. Piaggio filed a patent for the
Vespa scooter design in April 1946. The application documents referred to a
"model of a practical nature" for a "motorcycle with rationally
placed parts and elements with a frame combining with mudguards and
engine-cowling covering all working parts", of which "the whole
constitutes a rational, comfortable motorcycle offering protection from mud and
dust without jeopardizing requirements of appearance and elegance". The
patent was approved the following December. The first 13 examples appeared in
spring 1946, and reveal their aeronautical background. In the first examples,
one can recognize the typical aircraft technology. Attention to aerodynamics is
evident in all the design, in particular on the tail. It was also one of the
first vehicles to use monocoque construction (where the body is an integral
part of the chassis). The company was aiming to manufacture the new Vespa in
large numbers, and their longstanding industrial experience led to an efficient
Ford-style volume production line. The scooter was presented to the press at
Rome Golf Club, where journalists were apparently mystified by the strange,
pastel coloured, toy-like object on display. But the road tests were
encouraging, and even with no rear suspension the machine was more manoeuvrable
and comfortable to ride than a traditional motorcycle. Following its public
debut at the 1946 Milan Fair, the first fifty sold slowly—then with the
introduction of payment by installments, sales took off. Piaggio sold some
2,500 Vespas in 1947, over 10,000 in 1948, 20,000 in 1949, and over 60,000 in
1950. The biggest sales promo ever was Hollywood.
In 1952, Audrey Hepburn side-saddled Gregory Peck's Vespa in the film Roman
Holiday for a ride through Rome,
resulting in over 100,000 sales. In 1956, John Wayne dismounted his horse in
favor of the two-wheeler to originally get between takes on sets. By the end of
the fifties, Lucia Bosé and her husband, the matador Luis Miguel Dominguín, as
well as Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, and the entertainer Abbe Lane had become Vespa owners.
William Wyler filmed Ben Hur in Rome
in 1959, allowing Charlton Heston to abandon horse and chariot between takes to
take a spin on the Vespa. Vespa clubs popped up throughout Europe,
and by 1952, worldwide Vespa Club membership had surpassed 50,000. By the
mid-1950s, Vespas were being manufactured under licence in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain; in the 1960s, production was
started in India,
Brazil
and Indonesia.
By 1956, one million had been sold, then two million by 1960. By the 1960s, the
Vespa—originally conceived as a utility vehicle—had come to symbolize freedom
and imagination, and resulted in further sales boosts: four million by 1970,
and ten million by the late 1980s. Between 1957 and 1961 a reverse-engineered
and partially redesigned version of the Vespa was made in USSR under the name Vjatka-VP150.
Improvements were made to the original design and new models were introduced.
The 1948 Vespa 125 had rear suspension and a bigger engine. The headlamp was
moved up to the handlebars in 1953, and had more engine power and a restyled
rear fairing. A cheaper spartan version was also available. One of the
best-loved models was the Vespa 150 GS introduced in 1955 with a 150 cc engine,
a long saddle, and the faired handlebar-headlamp unit. Then came the 50 cc of
1963, and in 1968 Vespa 125 Primavera became one of the most durable of all.
Vespas came in two sizes, referred to as "largeframe" and
"smallframe". The smallframe scooters came in 50cc, 90cc, 100 cc, and
125 cc versions, all using an engine derived from the 50 cc model of 1963, and
the largeframe scooters in 125cc,150cc,160cc,180cc and 200 cc displacements
using engines derived from the redesigned 125 cc engine from the late 50's. The
largeframe Vespa evolved into the PX range (produced in 125 and 150 cc versions
until July 2007) in the late 70's. The smallframe evolved into the PK range in
the early 80's, although some vintage-styled smallframes were produced for the
Japanese market as late as the mid 1990's. By the early 1990s, Vespa was in
crisis. Its models were selling slowly; two-strokes were being withdrawn around
the world due to environmental concerns; new Asian manufacturers were stealing
market share with cheaper/lighter bikes; and cars were very cheap. As a result,
sales had fallen and production in Europe had been pulled back to Italy. Vespa
needed a miracle—and a new model, beyond the PX. The ET model range stuck true
to the wasp/aero design principles. It was lighter, more aerodynamic, had an
automatic gearbox and could take a series of engines from a 50 cc in either
two-stroke or four-stroke, up to a 150 cc four stroke. Plus, it was launched
when traffic congestion in major European cities was on the increase, so the
smaller wheel size didn't matter. It was a complete success, and allowed Vespa
to re-enter the North American market in 2001 with a new, more modern style.
When Vespa celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996, more than 15 million of the
scooters had been sold worldwide, making it the most successful scooter of all
time. Other companies vied with Piaggio for market share, but none came close
to emulating the success—or romance—of Vespa.
This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a
wonderful era of Vespa ‘s rich motorcycle history in a wonderful way. This is
your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice
large format of ca. 8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 28 cm). It makes it
perfectly suitable for framing!
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you
buy. For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on
photo, for ebay purposes only)
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We have
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After many decades
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archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They
will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a
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