1955 Piaggio Vespa 150 VL Struzzo Motor Scooter

Frame no. VL1T13144

Footnotes

"Throughout the world, scooter is synonymous with Vespa. In many European countries, the names are interchangeable: in Paris, parking signs refer to all scooters as Vespas; in Italian, there is even a verb meaning 'to travel by a Vespa', vespizzare." – Dregni & Dregni, Illustrated Motor Scooter Buyer's Guide.

Along with the rival Lambretta, the Piaggio-built Vespa mobilised an entire generation of Italians in the immediate post-war years, the hitherto humble scooter going on to become part of youth culture in the 1960s as favourite transport of the fashion conscious 'Mods'. The end of hostilities in 1945 had left a number of companies that hitherto relied on military contracts looking for alternatives, Piaggio among them. Forbidden by the Allies from resuming his aviation business, Enrico Piaggio instructed his chief designer Corradino d'Ascanio to design a motor scooter, for which he believed a potential market existed, particularly among women. But d'Ascanio didn't get it right first time, his solitary Paperino (Donald Duck) prototype being dismissed as both ugly and impractical. However, the lessons learned with the Paperiono proved invaluable in developing the Vespa. d'Ascanio's aviation background meant that he was well versed in techniques of stressed-skin construction, and these were deployed in creating the Vespa's monocoque chassis, a revolutionary development at the time. The name 'Vespa' (wasp) is said to have been inspired by the buzzing sound made by its 98cc single-cylinder two-stroke engine.

"Just like Henry Ford put the workers on wheels in America," Enrico Piaggio told Newsweek, "we put automotive transport within the reach of people who never expected to travel that way." Since its introduction in 1946, millions have been made and countless different versions come and gone, yet the Vespa of today remains recognisably related to the first one made over 70 years ago. Classic? Most definitely.

Offered here is a fine example of the 150 VL Struzzo (Ostrich) model first introduced in 1954 as competition for rival Innocenti's contemporary Lambretta LD 150. Restored in 2010 and described by the vendor as excellent throughout, the machine is offered with a Belgian Carte Grise.