page_title: Piaggio Ape
section_title: History and design
hierarchical_section_title: Piaggio Ape / History and design
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Relazione tecnica sulle caratteristiche del motofurgone Ape, Piaggio 1948. Alla Fiera di Milano del 1946 l'Ape riscosse molto successo e, grazie anche al suo basso costo, ebbe ampia diffusione nell'Italia meridionale del secondo dopoguerra (AS Pescara, Archivio privato D'Ascanio Corradino, b. 7, fasc. 157, n. 238)
context_page_description: The Piaggio Ape, is a three-wheeled light commercial vehicle, manufactured and marketed by Piaggio as an adaption of the company's Vespa scooter — in continuous production since its 1948 introduction and offered in numerous body configurations to serve a wide range of utilitarian functions.
  Initially marketed as the VespaCar or TriVespa, Piaggio subsequently marketed the utility vehicle as the Ape — derived from the Italian for bee; its scooter marketed as the Vespa, meaning wasp.
context_section_description: After World War II, when Italians could ill afford personal transportation, aircraft designer Corradino D'Ascanio, in 1947
  , conceived a light and simple three-wheeled commercial vehicle, finding favour with Piaggio. The first model was a cabless adaptation of the company's two-wheel scooter, the Vespa, adding two rear wheels and a flat utility bed over the rear axle. 
  Initial models featured 50 cc, 125 cc or 150 cc and more recently 175 cc engines. By the time of the 1964 Ape D, a cab was added to protect the driver from the elements.
  With handlebar style steering (a steering wheel became a later innovation), the original Ape was designed as a single-seater, now able to accommodate two passengers of modest size. A door is provided on each side, to facilitate entry and exit. Performance is modest, suited to light delivery, with good torque for hills and a low top speed. On larger roads, Apes may be driven close to the curb to allow other vehicles to pass.
caption: Photos from a 1948 Piaggio technical report on the Ape, showing the Ape at the 1946 Fiera di Milano/Milan Fair.[3]
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