The iconic scooter brand Vespa is still going strong. The company's plant in the Chinese city of Foshan, which is involved in its production operations, but most of its scooter production is still carried out at its headquarters in Pontedera, Italy. Vespas are more than just scooters, they have become an icon of Italian culture and the phrase “made in Italy”. When Piaggio launched the Vespa scooter in 1946, its distinctive features included floorboards and front spoilers to protect users in wet conditions and cold.
Thanks to the intuition of Enrico Piaggio and the genius of the legendary Italian aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio, Vespa scooters were born in 1946. With their narrow waist, large rear end and engine, they looked like a wasp (vespa in Italian) and with Enrico's exclamation the name remained. Vespas have been manufactured continuously since 1946 at the Piaggio plant in Pontedera, near Pisa, in Tuscany, Italy. The goal was to create a simple, robust and affordable vehicle, and the end result of their combined efforts was the Vespa, the scooter that would take the world by storm and become the reference point for all mopeds. The design of all Vespa scooter models maintains European elegance, and all include details such as disc brakes and double seats.
The astonishing popularity of the Vespa earned it the title of the first mass-produced vehicle in Italy, and by 1960, 4 million Vespas had been sold worldwide. The Vespa is an extraordinary and continuous story, which continues to inspire and influence the field of personal mobility. The Vespa differs from other scooters in that the body is made entirely of steel stamps welded together, which is exactly how Piaggio manufactured its aircraft. Piaggio Vespas would soon fill the streets of Italy, with 1 million units sold in the first 10 years of production.
