Vespa

If you’ve ever been to Italy you’ve probably smelled, heard, and seen the buzz of a Vespa scooter going by, especially in the main squares of towns and cities in the afternoon. If you haven’t been such a world traveler, but you’re a movie-phile than you’re very likely familiar with the classic, a Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn’s whimsical ride around Rome on the famous two-wheeled transport.

The Vespa scooter has been around since the mid 1940s, just after the end of World War II, and realized its creation as a result of that global conflict. Since then, the Vespa rose in popularity and waned with the widespread enjoyment of the car. But in recent years since 1997 the Vespa has seen a resurgence again. Unlike some of its other European cousins, such as the Lambretta scooter or the German Bella, the Vespa is enjoying a reincarnated return with a modern line of models. This in turn has boosted awareness for the vintage models again, as well as popularity and demand.

Built by Piaggio, the founding company and still the current manufacturer of the scooter, the Vespa can found on every continent and sometimes is some very oddball locations where one would not expect an Italian scooter to end up.

The most noticeable feature of the scooter has historically been the fact that the scooter body, with all its curves and sculpting of pressed steel, is also the frame of the vehicle as well. This unique approach to structure is not common; most motorcycles and scooters use a core frame and build body panels and parts around it. First used with the initial Vespa models, the same approach continues to be used today with modern Vespa models.