Vespa and Lambretta: Italian Scooters

The Vespa and the Lambretta are two Italian scooters from 1946 and 1947 respectively. The Vespa, from Piaggio, has a load-bearing sheet-steel body with the engine behind the leg shield. The Lambretta, from Innocenti, was based on a tubular frame with the engine at the rear wheel. Both became a symbol of freedom and modernity in postwar Europe.

Facts

Italy after the war

After the Second World War Italy’s industry lay in ruins, and the population needed cheap ways to get around. Cars were too expensive and motorcycles too heavy and dirty. Piaggio at Pontedera had built aircraft during the war, and its factory was destroyed. The company sought a new product, and the postwar period got a light, clean motorcycle for everyday use.

Enrico Piaggio gave the task to the aeronautical engineer Corradino D’Ascanio, who designed helicopters and who disliked motorcycles. He wanted to make something entirely different: a vehicle one could sit on in ordinary clothes, without being soiled by chain and engine.

The Vespa of 1946

D’Ascanio’s solution was based on aircraft technology. The Vespa has a load-bearing body of pressed sheet steel, without a frame, which protects the rider from road dirt and engine heat. The engine sits behind the leg shield and drives the rear wheel directly, without a chain. The front fork is attached on one side, like a landing gear, which makes it easy to change a tyre. The gear control is on the handlebar. The pressed sheet steel could be made in large series, which lowered the price and let more people buy one.

The name came, according to the story, from Enrico Piaggio’s remark that the narrow waist and the sound of the engine resembled a wasp, in Italian vespa. The model was patented in April 1946 and quickly became a success. After ten years over a million had been sold. The compact form suits mid-century modern: function decides form.

The Lambretta of 1947

The Lambretta was built by Innocenti in Milan, a steel-tube company. The name comes from the district of Lambrate, where the factory lay. The first model, the Lambretta A of 1947, was designed by Pier Luigi Torre and had an open tubular frame and the engine at the rear wheel. Later models got a slimmer, more angular body. The older Lambrettas also had shaft drive from the engine to the rear wheel, a solution that reduced dirt and wear compared with a chain.

The Lambretta is therefore more technical in its form, whereas the Vespa is rounder and softer. One has a closed, curving body, the other a straighter and sportier line. Both had a reputation for being reliable and easy to repair. Lambretta production in Italy ended in 1971, but manufacture continued in India until the 1990s.

The symbol and the legacy

The scooter quickly became a cultural symbol. In the film Roman Holiday (1953) Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck ride a Vespa through Rome, and the image made the vehicle known all over the world. In the 1960s the scooter became a mark of the mods in Britain, who decorated them with mirrors and headlamps. The scooter was also a social step forward: even women in skirts could ride, since the leg shield protected the clothes, and no special equipment was needed. It enabled young people to reach work, school and the coast in a way that had earlier been reserved for car owners.

The Vespa is still made by Piaggio and is almost unchanged in its basic form. If you want to compare with other Italian icons of the time you can look at the Fiat 500 or the Japanese Honda Super Cub (1958), which became the world’s best-selling vehicle. Read also about rational industrial design in the guide to Braun and the Ulm School.

How to recognise it

Exercise

What characterises the Vespa’s construction?