Scooter Story

History has made Vespa into more than just a scooter; it has become a modern myth, a fashion statement, a personal expression. Throughout the decades, Vespa has become an interpreter and an expression of the society in which it lives. 

In some way, in every era, Vespa's strength has always been its modernity, its ability to absorb changes in society and new trends which it has then re-defined in terms of mobility. Vespa has always been a message, a strong idea, a metaphor for all that. 

 
CHAPTERS OF HISTORY 
The origins 
From scepticism to "miracle" 
1956: the Vespa crosses the one million mark 
Records, sports and long distance travel: around the world with the Vespa
Vespa, the cinema and the USA


THE ORIGINS 

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.