Vespa Scooters

The Vespa is such an iconic symbol of Italy that we're forgiven for assuming the ancient Romans must have ridden the two-wheeled scooters on their daily excursions around town. In fact, Vespas are a post-war creation of the Piaggio company, which started out in 1884 manufacturing parts for ships, railroad cars, and, eventually, airplanes.

The first Vespa (Italian for wasp, the name was reportedly coined by Enrico Piaggio himself) rolled off the assembly line in 1946. The Vespa was unique among motorcycles in the way it allowed riders to sit upright in a position that was ergonomically correct, before people even thought much about such things. The 98cc scooter also had guards beneath the rider’s feet and over the tires, to keep the rider from being splattered by mud and debris. It was, in short, a very civilized motorcycle...