The scooter - the short history of a cultural icon The scooter - the short history of a cultural icon View gallery - 24 images The scooter was invented in 1947 as a low cost alternative to the automobile in war-ravaged Europe – it was designed as transport for the masses and it caught on so quickly that it became one of the great transport phenomena to sweep the world in the 20th century. The Vespa (which means “wasp” in Italian) was the result of Enrico Piaggio’s determination to create a viable alternative to the automobile for the masses. As the war drew to a close, Enrico studied every possible solution to get production in his plants going again. 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. From aeronautics to individual mobility: the transformation of 1946 The war, a radical watershed for the entire Italian economy, was equally important for Piaggio. The Pontedera plant built the state-of-the-art four-engine P 108 equipped with a 1,500-bhp Piaggio engine in passenger and bomber versions. However Piaggio’s aeronautical plants in Tuscany (Pontedera and Pisa) were important military targets and on August 31, 1943 they were razed to the ground by Allied bombers, after the retreating Germans had already mined the pillars of the buildings and irrevocably damaged the plants.

To rebuild the Pontedera plants, Enrico Piaggio asked the Allies, who then occupied part of the grounds and of the buildings still standing, to arrange for the machinery transferred to Germany and Biella in northern Italy to be brought back. This was done rapidly and Armando and Enrico Piaggio then began the process of rebuilding. The hardest task went to Enrico, who was responsible for the destroyed plants of Pontedera and Pisa. Enrico Piaggio’s decision to enter the light mobility business was based on economic assessments and sociological considerations. It took shape thanks to the successful co-operation of the aeronautical engineer and inventor Corradino D’Ascanio (1891-1981). The origins of the scooter A motor scooter was produced, based on a small motorcycle made for parachutists. The prototype, known as the MP 5, was nicknamed “Paperino” (the Italian name for Donald Duck) because of its strange shape, but Enrico Piaggio did not like it, and he asked Corradino D’Ascanio to redesign it. But the aeronautical designer did not like motorcycles. He found them uncomfortable and bulky, with wheels that were difficult to change after a puncture.

Worse still, the drive chain made them dirty. However, his aeronautical experience found the answer to every problem. To eliminate the chain he imagined a vehicle with a stress-bearing body and direct mesh; to make it easier to ride, he put the gear lever on the handlebar; to make tyre changing easier he designed not a fork, but a supporting arm similar to an aircraft carriage. Finally, he designed a body that would protect the driver so that he would not get dirty or dishevelled. Decades before the spread of ergonomic studies, the riding position of the Vespa was designed to let you sit comfortably and safely, not balanced dangerously as on a high-wheel motorcycle. Corradino D’Ascanio only needed a few days to refine his idea and prepare the first drawings of the Vespa, first produced in Pontedera in April 1946. It got its name from Enrico Piaggio himself who, looking at the MP 6 prototype with its wide central part where the rider sat and the narrow “waist”, exclaimed, “It looks like a wasp!” And so the Vespa was born. On April 23, 1946 Piaggio & C. S.p.A.

filed a patent with the Central Patents Office for inventions, models and brand names at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Florence, for “a motor cycle with a rational complex of organs and elements with body combined with the mudguards and bonnet covering all the mechanical parts”. In a short space of time the Vespa was presented to the public, provoking contrasting reactions. However, Enrico Piaggio did not hesitate to start mass production of two thousand units of the first Vespa 98 cc. The new vehicle made its society debut at Rome’s elegant Golf Club, in the presence of U.S. General Stone who represented the Allied military government. Italians saw the Vespa for the first time in the pages of Motor (March 24, 1946) and on the black and white cover of La Moto on April 15, 1946. From scepticism to “miracle” Manufacturers and market experts were divided: on one side the people who saw the Vespa as the realisation of a brilliant idea, and on the other the sceptics, who were soon to change their minds.

In the last months of 1947 production exploded and the following year the Vespa 125 appeared, a larger model that was soon firmly established as the successor to the first Vespa 98. The Vespa “miracle” had become reality, and output grew constantly; in 1946, Piaggio put 2,484 scooters on the market. These became 10,535 the following year, and by 1948 production had reached 19,822. When in 1950 the first German licensee also started production, output topped 60,000 vehicles, and just three years later 171,200 vehicles left the plants. Foreign markets also watched the birth of the scooter with interest, and both the public and the press expressed curiosity and admiration. The Times called it “a completely Italian product, such as we have not seen since the Roman chariot”. Enrico Piaggio continued tenaciously to encourage the spread of the Vespa abroad, creating an extensive service network all over Europe and the rest of the world.

He maintained constant attention and growing interest around his product, with a number of initiatives that included the foundation and spread of the Vespa Clubs. The Vespa became the Piaggio product par excellence, while Enrico personally tested prototypes and new models. His business prospects transcended national frontiers and by 1953, thanks to his untiring determination, there were more than ten thousand Piaggio service points throughout the world, including America and Asia. By then the Vespa Clubs counted over 50,000 members, all opposed to the “newborn” Innocenti Lambretta. No less than twenty thousand Vespa enthusiasts turned up at the Italian “Vespa Day” in 1951. Riding a Vespa was synonymous with freedom, with agile exploitation of space and with easier social relationships. The new scooter had become the symbol of a lifestyle that left its mark on its age: in the cinema, in literature and in advertising, the Vespa appeared endlessly among the most significant symbols of a changing society.

In 1950, just four years from its debut, the Vespa was manufactured in Germany by Hoffman-Werke of Lintorf; the following year licensees opened in Great Britain (Douglas of Bristol) and France (ACMA of Paris); production began in Spain in 1953 at Moto Vespa of Madrid, now Piaggio España, followed immediately by Jette, outside Brussels. Plants sprang up in Bombay and Brazil; the Vespa reached the USA, and its enormous popularity drew the attention of the Reader’s Digest, which wrote a long article about it. But that magical period was only the beginning. Soon the Vespa was produced in 13 countries and marketed in 114, including Australia, South Africa (where it was known as the “Bromponie”, or moor pony), Iran and China. And it was copied: on June 9, 1957, Izvestia reported the start of production in Kirov, in the USSR, of the Viatka 150 cc, an almost perfect clone of the Vespa. Piaggio had begun very early on to extend its range into the light transport sector.

In 1948, soon after the birth of the Vespa, production of the three-wheeler Ape van (the Italian for “bee”) derived from the scooter began, and the vehicle was an immediate success for its many possible uses. Numerous imaginative versions of the Vespa appeared, some from Piaggio itself, but mainly from enthusiasts - for example, the Vespa Sidecar, or the Vespa-Alpha of 1967, developed with Alpha-Wallis for Dick Smart, a screen secret agent, which could race on the road, fly, and even be used on or underwater. The French army had a few Vespa models built specially to carry arms and bazookas, and others that could be parachuted together with the troops. Even the Italian army asked Piaggio for a parachutable scooter.

1956: the Vespa crosses the one million mark While the Lambretta was starting to enjoy some success, the Vespa was being copied and imitated in a thousand ways: but the uniqueness of the vehicle ensured Piaggio a very long period of success, so much so that in November 1953, the 500,000th unit left the line, followed by the one millionth in June 1956. In 1960 the Vespa passed the two million mark; in 1970 it reached four million, and over ten million in 1988, making it a unique phenomenon in the motorised two-wheeler sector it has sold over 16 million units to date. From 1946 to 1965, the year Enrico Piaggio died, 3,350,000 Vespas were manufactured in Italy alone: one for every fifty inhabitants. The boom of the Vespa, and the different business prospects of the Piaggio brothers, with Enrico concentrating on light individual mobility in Tuscany and Armando on the aeronautical business in Liguria, led the company to split.

On February 22, 1964, Enrico Piaggio acquired the share in Piaggio & C. S.p.A. held by his brother Armando, who then founded “Rinaldo Piaggio Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche” (I.A.M. Rinaldo Piaggio). The Vespa 50 had appeared the previous year, 1963, following the introduction of a law in Italy making a numberplate obligatory on two-wheelers over 50 cc. The new scooter was exempt from this law and was an immediate success. In Italy sales of vehicles with numberplates decreased by 28 per cent in 1965 compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the Vespa, with its new “50” series, was a great success. The light Vespa was a successful addition to the Piaggio range and this displacement is still in production. To date almost 3,500,000 Vespa 50s have been built in different models and versions, the latest being the ET4 50 launched in autumn 2000.

It is the first four stroke Vespa 50cc, and has a record range of over 500 km with a full tank. The Vespa PX (125, 150 and 200cc) is the biggest sales success in the entire history of the Vespa. It is the “original vintage” - launched in 1977, it has sold over two million units, and as such is a favourite among those with a sense of nostalgia but also with the younger market. Records, sports and long distance travel: around the world with the Vespa The Vespa also has a racing career behind it. In Europe back in the Fifties, it took part, often successfully, in regular motor cycle races (speed and off-road), as well as unusual sporting ventures. In 1952 the Frenchman Georges Monneret built an “amphibious Vespa” for the Paris-London race and successfully crossed the Channel on it. The previous year Piaggio itself had built a Vespa 125cc prototype for speed racing, and it set the world speed record for a flying kilometre at an average of 171.102 km/h.

The Vespa also scored a great success at the 1951 “International 6 Days” in Varese, winning 9 gold medals, the best of the Italian motorcycles. That same year saw the first of innumerable rallies with the Vespa: an expedition to the Congo, which was to be the first of a series of incredible journeys on a scooter that was intended primarily to solve the problems of urban and intercity traffic. Giancarlo Tironi, an Italian University student, reached the Arctic Circle on a Vespa. The Argentine Carlos Velez crossed the Andes from Buenos Aires to Santiago del Chile. Year after year, the Vespa gained popularity among adventure holiday enthusiasts: Roberto Patrignani rode one from Milan to Tokyo; Soren Nielsen in Greenland; James P. Owen from the USA to Tierra del Fuego; Santiago Guillen and Antonio Veciana from Madrid to Athens; Wally Bergen on a grand tour of the Antilles; the Italians Valenti and Rivadulla in a tour of Spain; Miss Warral from London to Australia and back; the Australian Geoff Dean took one on a round-the-world tour.

Pierre Delliere, Sergeant in the French Air Force, reached Saigon in 51 days from Paris, going through Afghanistan. The Swiss Giuseppe Morandi travelled 6,000 km, much of it in the desert, on a Vespa he had bought in 1948. Ennio Carrega went from Genoa to Lapland and back in 12 days. Two Danish journalists Elizabeth and Erik Thrane, a brother and sister, reached Bombay on a Vespa. And it is impossible to count the many European scooter riders who have reached the North Cape on their Vespas. Few know that in 1980 two Vespa PX 200s ridden by M. Simonot and B. Tcherniawsky reached the finishing line of the second Paris-Dakar rally. Four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Henri Pescarolo helped the French team put together by Jean-François Piot. The Vespa continues to travel: in 1992 Giorgio Bettinelli, writer and journalist, left Rome on a Vespa and reached Saigon in March 1993.

In 1994-95 he rode a Vespa 36,000 km from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. In 1995-96 he travelled from Melbourne to Cape Town - over 52,000 km in 12 months. In 1997 he started out from Chile, reaching Tasmania after three years and 150,000 km on his Vespa across the Americas, Siberia, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. All in all, Bettinelli has travelled 254,000 km on a Vespa. Vespa, the cinema and the USA Stylish and unmistakably Vespa, exceptionally comfortable to ride with low-environmental-impact engines and disk brakes, the new-generation ET models are now also sold in numerous "Vespa Boutiques" in the US (over 60 from California to Florida and from Hawaii to New York, with the latest two boutiques in SoHo and Queens).

Having returned to the US in 2000 after exiting the market in 1985 because of new emissions legislation that targeted two stroke engines, the Vespa was an immediate success all over again, and has achieved a market share of 20 per cent of the small (40,000 units a year) but growing scooter sector. 6,000 Vespas were sold in the first year, 2001, and over 7,000 in 2002. But the Vespa isn't just a market phenomenon. It forms part of social history. In the "Dolce Vita" years the Vespa became a synonym for scooter, foreign reporters described Italy as "the country of the Vespa" and the Vespa's role in social history, not just in Italy but abroad, can be seen from its presence in hundreds of films. And it's a story that continues to be told today.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in "Roman Holiday " were only the first of a long series of international actors and actresses to be seen on the world's most famous scooter in a filmography that goes from “Quadrophenia” to “American Graffiti”, from “The Talented Mr. Ripley” to “102 Dalmatians”, not to mention “Dear Diary ”. In photo shoots, films and on the set, the Vespa has been a "travel companion" for names like Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, Geraldine Chaplin, Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, Virna Lisi, Milla Jovovich, Marcello Mastroianni, Charlton Heston, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gary Cooper, Anthony Perkins, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Nanni Moretti, Sting, Antonio Banderas, Matt Damon, Gérard Depardieu, Jude Law, Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. The Wasp and The Bee The Wasp and The Bee by Mark Daniels Today, we thought we'd take a break from all the hectic time travel, and pop out for a little Italian.

Well, two actually, and though both vehicles were both 50cc, and made by the same company, they are just about as unalike as chalk and cheese. The 'ship fittings' made by Società Piaggio were mainly decorative woodwork for the saloons of passenger ships Our featured manufacturer was founded in 1882, by Enrico Piaggio with his son Rinaldo, in Sestri Ponete, Genoa, as a Timber Stockyard. Rinaldo shortly left to set up his own branch of the business and founding the Società Piaggio in 1884 to make ship fittings. By 1900, the focus had shifted toward railway coach construction, and further changing interests found Piaggio building aeroplanes by 1915. Piaggio's 'Paperino' A change of direction was necessary after World War 2 and, with the growing demand for private vehicles, attention turned toward personal transport, the result of which was a prototype scooter nicknamed "Paperino" (the Italian name for Donald Duck). Piaggio was, however, not comfortable with the machine, so handed the project over for re-design by Corradino d'Ascanio.

In 1946, the first Vespa (translation - Wasp, derived from the buzzing exhaust note) scooter was marketed as cheap utilitarian transport, and became one of the most successful vehicles ever sold, continuing in production over 50 years later. A 50cc machine range was introduced from 1963, and Piaggio Group acquired the famous Gilera Company in 1969. 50cc Piaggio Vespa mopeds were first listed in the UK from 1968, in the guise of the Ciao. Marketing the successful continental image of a moped as fab and stylish just wasn't going to work with the ingrained big bike and scooter culture in mainland Britain, so the Ciao simply fell into the general shopping basket of largely ignored basic commuter transport. Moving along from the Ciao, but utilising much the same running gear in a different chassis, the Bravo became listed from July 1977. Our featured top-of-the-range Bravo EEVL is a particularly nice original example dated 1982, in excellent order, with only 1,200 miles on the clock, so should make a very representative test machine.

Before closing in for the kill, we circle our prey to take stock of the intended victim! Telescopic front forks, with swing-arm suspension at the rear, firm 2.25×16 tyres on broad Agrati rims laced with stout 2.5mm spokes up front and very substantial 3mm on the rear, and the universal stock Italian pressed hubs - so we might expect it to handle and stop fairly well. The frame comprises the typical period established bent length of large diameter tube from headstock to tool cartridge that slides out of the tail end. The flattened rectangular petrol tank is slightly unusual in that, instead of saddling over the frame, it fastens from below the tube, but all visually blends in, so no matter. The step-through frame is trimmed with plastic footplates to accommodate the continental feet-up riding style - I don't think we'll be having any of that nonsense here thank you! The engine and running gear are very distinctly carried from the Ciao, 9:1 compression air-cooled alloy head, disc valve engine with horizontal fan-cooled iron cylinder, pedal chain drive on the right, and belt transmission on the left - so let's pull off that plastic cover and have a look at the drive mechanism.

Look at the length of that belt, that's some fair stretch from engine to rear wheel! The front variator actuates on engine revs, and effects the sprung rear cone set, so delivers a smooth and automatic drive ratio change from low to high, by exactly the same system one sees adopted on the world-conquering scooters of the 21st century. Behind the engine and in the middle of the engine plates, we know there's a 12mm Dell'orto carburettor hidden in there somewhere. If you squint between all the surrounding stuff, you can occasionally catch brief glimpses of it - let's hope we never have to service it! Comprehensive security is provided by all the latest that 80's technology has to offer - yep, it's still the jolly old steering lock, and we actually have the key! Perhaps we could test the efficiency of this traditional anti-theft device by leaving it at the station car park for a day, and see if it's there when we get back in the evening - err, better not!

Getting going appears pretty standard, fuel tap on, push the choke lever down under the right-hand footplate, little lever on the left bar works the decompressor, then push down on the pedal and, though the ratio feels rather high, the motor starts readily enough, and the choke automatically flicks off as the throttle is opened. Acceleration is pretty brisk, so the variator set certainly contributes well there, making the Bravo a useful about-town machine that should keep up with traffic pace from junctions. In September 1974 Piaggio advertised that the Ciao - Bravo - Boxer range had reached the 1,000,000 mark Though the general handling proves confident and sure-footed, the saddle gives a lot of rubbery bounce, and coupled with the surprisingly long travel of the rear suspension units, on a bumpy road - it kinda feels like bouncing along on a Space-Hopper! Braking performance is directly proportional to how hard you pull on the levers, but however hard you pull, the wheels won't lock up - so perhaps that means it's got an early ABS system?

Spurred on by the challenge of the "Sloped" frame plate, our smallest and lightest rider tucks into minimum sports crouch on a downhill stretch with tailwind, and is clocked off by the pace bike - What a result, 32mph! The test pilot goes home tonight, warm in the feeling of beating the system. "Max design speed 30mph - Pahh! That showed 'em!" (The 40mph Veglia speedo was apparently indicating 36/37 at this point, and we didn't really have the heart to tell him!) Starship Bravo seems to generate some cyclic belt drumming effect as it approaches maximum warp, but back off a little and 25 - 28mph makes a much more comfortable cruising speed. The headlight is a large, flat plastic box, with plastic lens and 15W bulb, while the tail lamp is 3W.

The lights are probably a little better than their wattages might suggest, though we couldn't really make out what was supposed to be happening with the 3-position switch, which had off in the middle and what is described in the manual as 'parking light' and 'dipped beam', which both seemed the same to us! Following on the success of the Vespa, 1948 saw the introduction of what was to become another motoring giant, the Piaggio Apé (not as in monkey, but pronounced 'Ah-pay', translation - Bee). This time the new vehicle had 3-wheels, and was to have a huge influence on helping Italy's recovery from Mussolini's legacy. Bajaj Auto rickshaw The original scooter design with a box on the back, evolved into today's Apé range based around a semi-monocoque frame that uses a single load bearing chassis in sheet steel, with a steel cab that houses either one or two seats. The body is available in a number of styles, including van, pick-up, and rickshaw, but also features further specific option versions for ice-cream vending, urban refuse collection, fish retail counter, insulated box van, plumber and service engineering equipment models.

There seems an equally extensive range of different engine forms available too, from 422cc European and 395cc (8hp) diesel motors, to a 150cc in the Bajaj Auto version licence built in India, right down to tiny 50cc powered machines, which is where our test feature vehicle comes in. Dated as 1992, this imported machine had served a hard working life on the continent before restoration and recent UK registration. It started from humble beginnings as a 2-stroke 50cc model, but received a big-bore conversion somewhere on the highway. Along with general body restoration, the tired motor required a further rebore, and is now rated about 70cc. Meeting the Apé, you are immediately struck that it's actually a half-pint three-wheeler! Smaller than a Reliant, and those skinny little rear wheels look every bit of scooter origin. The pick-up back is plainly of very light gauge construction and, though obviously not particularly robust, it is of reasonable size and easily stows the Bravo moped on the back, still leaving space for another two or three of its brethren if the situation called.

When we arrive, our Apé pick-up is full of junk and hemmed in the side of the unit, so we empty it out and need to move the back over to thread it out through the workshops. Unlike the expectation of 'bumping' over a normal car, one person can simply lift the whole back end across in one go - it's so light! Now we can take stock of the cab, which seems as much door as cockpit, because it really is so compact... Are you sure there's room to get two people in some of these? There's a bench seat that crosses the width of the cab, so the driver would normally sit in the middle, but when joined by a passenger, you both have to sit at an angle on either side of the controls. While it looks as if the Apé might be operated from either position, it may technically be perceived that the driver would be in the right seat, since the foot brake is on that side.

The floor of the cab feels so low hung that you feel as if your feet are going to be dragging along the ground, and as the door closes with all the structural confidence of a foil pie tin, you may suddenly discover a sense of claustrophobic apprehension that feels like it may be relieved by opening the window. This may not, however, provide the re-assurance you might be looking for, when you discover the side windows are only held closed by a wire spring, which you unsnap, and clip open at the bottom by locating the spring in a notch plate on the frame. Looking further up, the window hinges at the top, on a fabric strip riveted to the glass! You may like to sit a minute and marvel at the technology... The controls may appear vaguely familiar to any scooter or geared moped rider, as a set of stem mounted handlebars sprout up from the floor where, from outside the cab, they steer a typical scooter styled front fork and front wheel. The bars are furnished with the usual twistgrip throttle and front brake lever on the right. To the left, a conventional lever clutch and 4-speed twistshift with neutral.

Back braking operates by a typical scooter style foot pedal emerging through a slot in the floor plate. The control arrangement in Apé really isn't anything like you'd expect to find in any conventional car. Apart from the scooter handlebars, other controls appear almost randomly placed according to where it's convenient, or where there's space to put them. Pull out the choke knob underneath the seat, ignition key lock at the front of the cab dash, then electric start button on the handlebar, a twist of the throttle and the two-stroke motor blares into life. Then a couple of other levers each side of the steering column. Right is the handbrake, and left lever to engage reverse, then pull in the clutch for selecting the desired backwards gear on the twistshift - Oh horrors, yes, it really does have four reverse gears too, and will go just as fast backwards as forwards! There are flashing indicators worked by a switch on the left handlebar, and a single (1-speed, slow) windscreen wiper, operated by a switch on the exposed motor. The windscreen washer is equally low-tech; you lift a plastic bottle off the parcel shelf, turn it upside down, and squeeze!

Having finished appreciating all the luxuries, and completed the pre-flight checks, we back out into the gangway, then forward through the cavernous workshops, and out the main door into the blazing sunlight. Twist change into first, and in mere moments the engine is revving out - have we missed the gear? No, we are moving - barely! First is incredibly low, switch into second - more revving, 3rd - we're on our way now, then up into top and open her up on the high road. There is a deafening cacophony of induction roar, motor noise, clattering suspension, and drumming panels - we must be doing at least 150 ... but look out the window and the world is crawling by and there's a queue of traffic behind! Best paced on the flat 31mph, 33 max downhill, and you can manage to hold it in fourth as it pulls back up the other side at 20mph. Things sort of bounce around and twitch about, and you vaguely go in the direction you point it, but the experience isn't really described as suspension or handling in any familiar sense of the terms.

On bumps or turns, it feels as if the whole thing is going to fall over at the front. Brakes are quite effective, but they aren't really dragging you down from much speed, and the pick-up back isn't loaded on our test. We bumble back to Sid at Felixstowe Motorcycle & Auto Centre, where he says our blue Apé pick-up with its new big bore kit is a veritable rocket-ship by comparison to his yellow Apé van with standard 50cc motor. The van is a little newer, and a little more evolved, with luxuries like internal plastic trim, and pozi-force oiling, so you don't have to pre-mix the fuel anymore. Though it proves less noisy and more civilised to operate, the lower engine capacity is immediately obvious.

Acceleration and general performance are relatively equated against the bicycle, which will always beat you from junctions, but then you can usually manage to overtake once the speed has (eventually) built up to the maximum of 27mph on flat, and 31 downhill, while the lack of cc very much shows since we have to drop down to 2nd to crest the incline on the other side at 12mph this time. Apé is like sitting inside a biscuit tin, with the performance of the slowest moped you've ever ridden, but can transport all sorts of stuff and will keep the rain off you. It will pretty much perform any tight turn that you can do on a motor cycle, so you rarely find the need to actually use reverse, and on tickover in 1st gear, it smoothly negotiates the tightest spaces at a mere trickle. You might think of Apé's natural environments as old Mediterranean trading towns with narrow streets and tight alleyways, or little villages with quiet country roads? Generally perceived as little more than a novelty in the UK, many other cultures across the globe have adopted them as economic and practical commercial vehicles for a multiplicity of roles in modern cities.

Keeping a conscious eye out for them when away on holiday, you may be surprised at the places they manage to turn up, though back in Britain at our typical traffic pace, it'd be easy to perceive them as a major traffic hazard, and on dual carriageways - you'd probably find them squished and listed under 'road kill'. From humble beginnings, Piaggio rides on into the 21st century as Europe's biggest motor cycle manufacturer, including under its portfolio of brands, Aprilia, Vespa, Gilera, Moto-Guzzi, and Derbi. Next - Walking again down the corridor of time, the path ahead is crumbling ... Just one foot wrong could plunge us forever into the autocycle time continuum. Whoops ... we're gone ... falling ... falling ... to land in soft earth with a gentle thump! Italy's killer hornets: what you need to know - The Local Italy's killer hornets: what you need to know The Local An Asian "killer" Hornet. Dider Descouens The Local 2 July 2015 13:48 CEST+02:00 They have left six people dead in France and now they're making a beeline for Italy.

The so-called killer hornet arrived in Italy in June, creating widespread panic. But before you run for cover, we've attempted to separate fact from fiction.... What is the killer hornet? The killer hornet is the name given to the Asian Hornet, or to give it its latin name, Vespa Velutina. Vespa Velutina is smaller and darker than the European Hornet. It first arrived in France in 2004. Smaller? I saw a photo on Facebook and they looked huge! I bet you did. But amid all this hysteria people are confusing the Asian Hornet with the Giant Asian Hornet, which thankfully hasn't arrived in Europe yet. The Giant Asian Hornet is a behemoth with a 6mm sting. One Japanese man stung by the Giant Asian Hornet described it as “like a hot nail being driven into my skin.” The sting of the Asian Hornet is no more painful than that of the European Hornet. So why are they called 'killer hornets'? Well, since 2004 they have killed six people in France – all of whom died after having an allergic reaction to the sting. European Hornet stings kill people who are allergic to them too.

But their Asian cousins got the moniker 'killer' because they are a lot more aggressive than European Hornets and therefore more likely to sting. So there's nothing to worry about then? Not really – not unless you're allergic to wasps. Or if you happen to be a bee. You see, hornets are predatory and love eating bees. Normally the Asian Hornet preys on the Eastern Honey Bee – but here in Europe it's preying on our native European Honey bee. Unfortunately, the European Honey Bee has not had the time to evolve any defences against this new predator. This means Asian hornets can easily kill 40 bees a minute and a small group of them can decimate a hive of 30,000 honey bees in just a few hours, before scoffing the larvae inside the hive. This is bad news for bee-keepers, and farmers who rely on bees to produce the food that they sell. Where are the hornets? They have been seen in the centre-north of the country and the bad tempered beasts have already stung a few civilians – without any serious consequences.

Alessandra Ripari, head of the Apocoltori Macerata bee-keepers association, told daily newspaper Il Resto del Carlino : “We know that they are widespread in Cuneo, Alessandria and Imperia, which is very dangerous for local bees." There have also been reports of a man being stung by a killer hornet in the southern province of Calabria – so it looks like they are on the move. What's being done to stop them? Boffins at the University of Turin are working on a radar to attach to the hornets so that their nests can be located and destroyed. What should I do if stung? If you have any kind of allergic reaction and experience breathing problems, a swollen tongue, dizziness , faintness, nausea or hives (the skin condition – don't be smart), call the emergency services immediately. If you don't have an allergic reaction, check to see if the sting is stuck in your skin and remove by scraping it out. Don't pinch it as you might end up pumping more venom into yourself. Ice the sting for ten minutes, which will take away the pain and itching.

Symptoms might last for two-five days, so you can re-ice if need be. Most importantly, clean the area where you were stung regularly with soap and water to avoid infection. Vespa Scooter isItalian for Wasp - Sabotage Times Life Vespa Scooter isItalian for Wasp Vespas were created by fighter jet designers and championed by film stars, Mods and Italian youth. They remain an absolute design classic. Avatar: Social count: 0 Vespas were created by fighter jet designers and championed by film stars, Mods and Italian youth. They remain an absolute design classic. 0 There’s nothing like speeding past stationary traffic on a Vespa to instill in you a twin sense of freedom and schadenfreude. Whipping through the streets on this simple, elegant and robust piece of automotive engineering is the only way to negotiate a modern city with dignity, liberty and style. In a car you are at the mercy of gridlock, parking restrictions and bendy buses. But on a Vespa you never wait in line; you speed to the front of queues and weave seamlessly through the automotive hoards with impudence and glee. You park for free and cock a snoop at congestion charges.

Ever since its invention, riding a Vespa has been synonymous with freedom, with agile exploitation of space and with easier social relationships. It is, as it always was, the ultimate tool for the streetwise come-on. Like all great Italian inventions, it was conceived with aesthetics in mind. The bodywork was designed to cover the engine and shield the legs from rain, mud and oil. This appealed to the style-obsessed Italian populace when the bike was first released in 1947 and has since made it the first choice of sartorially-conscious commuters across the globe. Piaggio, an Italian manufacturer of fighter planes, first produced it in 1946. "In a car you are at the mercy of gridlock, parking restrictions and bendy buses. But on a Vespa you never wait in line." With the Italian economy in turmoil, company boss Enrico Piaggio realised that people needed a cheap and utilitarian means of transport. He commissioned Corradino D’Ascanio – the designer of the first modern helicopter – to devise a solution. But the designer did not like motorcycles, finding them uncomfortable and bulky.

So he came up with the revolutionary scooter design that was based on his aeronautical experience – an airplane on wheels, so to speak. For Piaggio it resembled something else entirely. ‘It looks like a wasp!’ he said. The name Vespa (Italian for wasp) was born. It was immediately embraced by the Italian public, but remained unknown elsewhere until 1953, when Audrey Hepburn rode side-saddle on Gregory Peck’s Vespa in the film Roman Holiday. The following year, 100,000 were sold worldwide. Later that decade, John Wayne, Dean Martin and Marlon Brando were photographed nipping around film sets on Vespas. In 1960s Britain, they became the preferred transport of the Mods, keen on their suit-preserving qualities. Fleets of smart young men swarming to Brighton aboard gleaming Vespas (as depicted in the 1979 film Quadrophenia) cemented the bike’s design-icon status. Today, you needn’t be a teenager in dark glasses and a parka to pull off the Vespa look. A new generation of commuters has been seduced by the bike’s liberating qualities.

Now, Piaggio has revisited its roots, with an updated version of the 1947 GTV original in aircraft grey. With a 250cc engine, it’s fast and robust enough to take you beyond the city onto the open road. Take someone with you. Tags My Vespa LX 125 "Yellow Wasp" - Italian Art In Motion - Team-BHP View My Garage My Vespa LX 125 "Yellow Wasp" - Italian Art In Motion My love for Italian Vespas was inspired by my dad way back in 70s when we owned a Vespa 150 and i used to stand infront of the scooter during a family ride.Little did i know my passion would rage into a flame that never burnt out and for the last 30 years Vespa has been part of my life. My own Vespa came into my life in 1989 when i acquired an LML Vespa NV for Rs.14,450..unbelievable price.Today I clocked over 1,20,000 kms on my LML Vespa and still rides strong in my fleet.

My encounter with contemporary Vespa came into light during my frequent visits to Europe,where Vespas are a rage and just whizz past you in a flash.The Vespa stores always attracted me to collect a huge memorabilia and keep my passion alive. Since 2006 I started collecting more and more Vespa and today my fleet of Vespa include 1962 & 1969 Vespa 150,Entire range of LML Vespas that were made in India and Vespa PL 170 & PVX. 2012..The Saga of new Vespa dawns into India Almost it was certain that I had to acquire the 2012 Vespa LX 125 with out any delay and come end of April,a swanky Vespa outlet opened in Jubilee Hills.My whole family visited and decided on a Yellow colour and immediatly I booked an LX 125 at Smart Vespa in Jubilee Hills.

The wait...I was promised the delivery of my LX 125 towards the end of May 2012 and as days passed by,I was restless as I wanted to own the first lot Vespa LX 125 in India as they were totally imported kits assembled in India.Frequent trips to the Smart Vesa showroom only made me acquaint with the efficient staff,who posted me the latest status of the delivery of my Vespa. The Rencontre..Finally on 13th June I was destined to meet my new dream and it was euphoric moment when Mr.Ratin Mehta the director of Smart Vespa handed over the keys of our LX 125 to my 6 year old son,Vijay.Both the Father and Son rejoiced looking at the Italian Wasp in its latest avatar. We rode home safely and parked the new member of my fleet in the garage much to the amazement of its older siblings. My Son takes delivery of the Vespa LX 125 Father and Son with their new acquisition Last edited by hillram : 18th June 2012 at 11:30.

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Question: Which Italian vehicle takes its name from the Italian for wasp?
Answer: VESPA