Vespa Motorcycles

Vespa was launched on 23 April 1946 by Piaggio & Co. in Pontedera, Italy, under company head Enrico Piaggio, who wanted an affordable, easy-to-ride vehicle for a country rebuilding after the war. The design came from aeronautical engineer Corradino D'Ascanio, who applied his aircraft background to create the scooter's step-through, load-bearing unibody frame - a genuine engineering innovation that eliminated the need to straddle a central frame tunnel. Piaggio himself is credited with naming the scooter, reportedly remarking that its wide rear and narrow waist looked like a "vespa," Italian for wasp. More than 18 million Vespas have been built since that first model. Vespa operates as part of the Piaggio Group rather than as a fully independent company, but it remains one of the most recognizable vehicle designs in the world, and continues to define the classic Italian scooter silhouette across its modern model range.