Vespa c1960s

This 1960s iconic lapel badge showing a Vespa scooter perched on the Vespa logotype is a great piece of promotional Vespa memorabilia. The Vespa (Italian for 'wasp'), is synonymous with Italian chic and fashion and has attained the rare status of a design classic. When Vespa celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996, a staggering 15 million Vespas had been sold worldwide.

 

Piaggio was founded in 1894 in Genoa by Rinaldo Piaggio as a luxury ship building company that later expanded into the rail carriage, car and marine craft market. In 1946, Enrico Piaggio's vision of developing a vehicle for the masses became a reality and got post-war Italy moving again. An aeronautical engineer named Corradino D'ascanio was given the brief to design a simple, robust yet affordable vehicle. His creation was the Vespa scooter which soon became a metaphor for elegance and all things Italian.

 

Many films have been made featuring the Vespa such as Roman Holiday, featuring Gregory Peck

and Audrey Hepburn riding a Vespa around Rome's Colosseum, and Anita Ekberg escaping the

paparazzi in the famous scene from Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

 

The Vespa scooter and brand have huge worldwide followings with Italy being the largest market. The UK, due to the growth of the mod subculture in the 1960s, has the second largest market for Vespas.

 

Photography, layout and design: Argy58

 

(This image also exists as a high resolution jpeg and tiff - ideal for a variety of print sizes

e.g. A4, A3, A2 and A1. The current uploaded format is for screen based viewing only: 72pi)

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