Cultural icon from necessity. The Vespa scooter profoundly influenced post-World War II Italian consumer culture, youth culture, women’s independence, etc. However, this influence was not limited to Italy. In these respects, Vespa once influenced the entire world and continues to do so.
There is a strong historical context behind the birth of Vespa. Piaggio is an industrial engineering company based in Genoa, Italy. Rinaldo Piaggio founded it in 1884. Piaggio initially made a variety of fittings for luxury yachts. After that, at the beginning of the last century, they started making railway carriages, goods vans, trams, etc. The outbreak of World War I saw another change in Piaggio’s production. Now they started making airplanes. In World War II, the company produced aircraft for the Fascist and Nice forces. As a result, this company factory became one of the targets of the Allied forces. On August 31, 1943, Allied bombers nearly leveled the Piaggio factory. On the other hand, the German forces left various factory buildings and plants to receive mines while retreating. After being devastated by the bomb, Enrico Piaggio decided to relaunch his company. Because the destroyed factories were no longer capable of producing aircraft. In line with the company’s expertise, a light vehicle was being planned. Besides, the economic and social situation of Italy also played a role behind the decision to make light vehicles. Italy suffered heavy losses due to the World War, the war destroyed heavy industry. Common people need a cheap personal transport. Piaggio’s Vespa comes to the market with a solution to the problem. The scooter was designed after a type of small motorcycle made for American paratroopers in World War II. These small olive-colored Cushman Airborne motorcycles were dropped with troops by parachute. The Vesper was designed by Corradino D’Ascanio, a prominent aero-engineer. The initial prototype that designer D’Ascanio created was called the MP Five or Paperino. But Piaggio’s boss, Enrico, didn’t like it. He asked D’Ascanio to create a new design. D’Ascanio was an aero-engineer himself, so conventional motorbikes were not his thing. Especially in these people’s clothes were dirty. He wanted to create a scooter that could get rid of these problems. The scooter should also be comfortable. On the other hand, it was also kept in mind that women can sit comfortably on this scooter even in loose clothing. After that he took a few days to create a new design, which is today’s Vespa. Seeing a prototype of the new design, Enrico Piaggio exclaimed, ‘It looks like a Vimrule!’ This Vespa scooter introduced a new verb to the Italian language—’vespere’, meaning—to ride a Vespa. On April 23, 1946, Piaggio filed a patent for the Vesper. In April 1946, 15 Vespas were produced at the factory in Tuscany, Italy. The Vespa made its debut at the Golf Club of Rome in the presence of US General Stone, the representative of the Allied Forces. However, a month before this, on March 24, 1946, the Italians saw the appearance of the Vespa on the pages of the motor magazine. Vespa appeared on the black-and-white cover of La Moto on April 15 of the same year.
1945 Vesper Prototype MP6 The 1945 Vesper Prototype MP6Vespa ‘Miracle’ soon became a reality. In 1946, 2484 Vespas were released. The following year the number increased to 10 thousand 535. The following year in 1948 Vesper production increased to 19,822 units. Three years later, Vesper production reached 1 lakh 71 thousand. Since then, more than 1.6 million Vespa scooters have been produced. Vespa is sold in 114 countries. So far Vespa has launched more than a hundred models.
Foreign markets have watched Vespa with interest since its inception. Both foreigners and their media have shown curiosity and admiration for the Vespa. ‘A consummate Italian product modeled after the Roman chariot,’ wrote The Times. Enrico developed networks throughout Europe and the world to distribute his products. The Vespa Club was an important venture of Enrico’s. By 1953, Vespa Club membership exceeded 50,000. In 1951, 20 thousand Vespa fans celebrated ‘Vespa Day’. Vespa Day is still celebrated with enthusiasm by Vespa fans in various countries. Vespa Day is celebrated every year in countries like Germany, Indonesia, France, Britain etc. Vespa Day in Europe is known as Eurovespa. Every year this day is celebrated with great enthusiasm in different cities.
Interestingly, seeing the success of the Vespa, several countries took the initiative to create new bikes based on its design. For example, Japan made the Fuji Rabbit, Germany and Great Britain also made some scooters, but none could match Italy’s Vesper in beauty and service.
Vespa production also started in Germany in 1950. Along with Germany, Great Britain, France also joined Vespa production. Vespa production also started in Madrid, Spain in 1953. After that started in Brussels, Bombay, Brazil and USA. Vespa’s popularity also caught the attention of Reader’s Digest. They printed a great report on Vespa. This was just the beginning. Soon Vespa was produced in 13 countries and sold in 114 countries. The then Soviet Union started making this scooter based on the Vespa design. They named their Vespas-like scooter Vyatka 150, the year was 1957. However, the production of Viatka was stopped in the face of objections from the Vespa authorities.
In June 1956, Vesper sales reached the 1 million milestone. Vesper sales have been steadily increasing since then. In 1960 Vesper sales reached the 2 million mark. 4 million units in 1970 and Vesper sales crossed 1 crore units in 1988. Enrico Piaggio died in 1965. And until that year, 3.5 million Vespas were made in Italy alone. The most successful design in Vespa history was the Vespa PX (125, 150 and 200 cc), launched in 1977. The design has sold over two million units.
Interestingly, scooters as harmless as the Vespa have also taken part in motorcycle races. In the fifties of the last century in Europe, Vespa regularly participated in various races. In 1952, Frenchman Georges Monoret built an amphibious Vespa that crossed the English Channel. In 1951 the Vespa was awarded as the best Italian motorcycle. Vespa travels to different parts of the world started at this time. Giancarlo Tironi, an Italian university student, reached the Arctic Circle on a Vespa. Argentine Carlos Vélez rode a Vespa from Buenos Aires across the Andes Mountains to Santiago, Chile. In 1948, French Air Force Sergeant Pierre Delière bought a Vespa. With that Vespa, he traveled six thousand kilometers from Paris to Saigon, Vietnam. This Vespa has also crossed the desert of Afghanistan.
Vespa ads in different countries and movie ads using the Vespa Vespa ads in different countries and movie ads using the Vespa The new and cheap vehicle changed Italian culture dramatically. According to observers of the time, the Vespa marked the rise of consumer goods in Italy. I am a full citizen and for that I must have a Vespa— this sense of product was first created in Italy by Vespa. In post-World War II Italy, the Vespa inspired some inspiration. In their campaign, Piaggio tried to portray the Vespa as a part of people’s lifestyle. Italians were in poor financial condition by European standards until the 1960s. But the cheap Vespa gives them a real hope of a brighter future. Marchi M. Citing the Vespa as a symbol of hope at the time, it greatly influenced consumer culture and youth culture. “Vespa is not a word, but an idea—one that is truly international and that embodies the dreams and aspirations of an entire generation for freedom. The Vespa is no ordinary scooter or vehicle; It is a complete ‘scooter’. The name Vespa evokes the memories of the youth.”
Young workers in Italy were attracted to the Vespa because of its low price and popularity. As the Vespa was a symbol of ‘modernity’, young people riding the Vespa used to attend various social events in the surrounding villages or towns, many would just ride the Vespa together in the fields. Thus Vespa also played a role in building and developing social relations. This Vespa movement played a role in breaking the patriarchal society of Italy, especially the free movement of young people freed them from the patriarchal rule.
Vespa played an instrumental role in establishing women’s equality in the sixties. Before the Vespa hit the market, there was no woman riding a motorbike on the streets of Italy. Along with this acceptance, the portrayal of the Vespa in Hollywood movies also made the Vespa a symbol of feminism and change. Piaggio was well aware of the Vespa’s popularity among men as well as women, so prior to 1949, Vespa advertisements focused on women. At that time almost every Vesper poster featured women. But the Vesper campaign that most encouraged women’s emancipation and the free movement of women in Italy was the Hollywood movie Roman Holiday. Vesper’s biggest success in the campaign was the unforgettable 1953 Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn. Vesper sales crossed the 1 lakh mark that year. Vesper sales nearly doubled. The Italians clearly understood that the Vespa meant stylish and comfortable living.
The freedom that the Vespa brought to young people of all classes worried the moral leaders of society. The Catholic Church was also on the list of those concerned. Vespa’s influence on Italian social life can be well felt from this sign. Vespers, like motorbikes, are ganged up. These gangs of various classes of youths are seen in public places in Italy. The Vespa gang was seen as a sign of youth unrest.
The adoption of the Vespa made the people of Italy much more mobile. The influence of the Italian youth culture centered on the Vespa was not limited to Italy, but took on an international dimension. Britain was Vespa’s biggest market after Italy. The Vespa became a fixture of Britain’s mod culture. The mods’ trademark was their suits, so the Vespa became the perfect vehicle for them. Britain’s seaside resorts were buzzing with Vespa-toting mods on holiday in the sixties. Showing off their Vespa was an essential part of these chats. It was through the Vespa that Piaggio discovered that young people were a special class of buyers. Not only Piaggio, but also Italian advertising agencies at this time could realize an important fact of history. And that is, the discovery of youth and women as a special consumer group. The sale of the Vesper gave a new impetus to the Italian economy in the post-World War II period. On the other hand, the mobility of Italy’s youth through Vespa also has a positive role in the economy.
The Vesper legend lives on. In 2013, a new model of Vesper was released in the market. Its target was the Indian market. And their inspiration was Bollywood. People in India’s largely agrarian society do not have many vehicles. They travel to the market on foot or in bullock carts. So this new model is released in the market to deliver Vespa to them very cheaply. Even today Vesper market is quite promising. The number of people in the cities of the world is increasing every day. Therefore, the importance of own transportation is also increasing. Vespa is cheaper than cars and Vespa is much more durable, so market analysts believe that Vespa will not face the face even in this era. And even today, if a movie is shot in Italy, Vespa’s presence is almost certain.
