The Vespa was designed by a man who hated Motorcycles

Sure. I spent a couple of years commuting with a Lambretta (a Vespa competitor) and enjoyed it. Basically a motorcycle you didn't have to spread your legs to straddle. The problem remains the same: we need to drastically reduce our dependence on fossil fuel.

I have always liked the Vespa , ever since I was a boy . I got to ride one when I was a teenager and it was a lot of fun. It's easy to drive , it's economic transportation that will go anywhere , except sand or deep water of course. Ÿou don't need a lot of space to park it . Here I am an old man and now there everywhere. There's been a call for economic vehicles and these little scooters are coming back 😊 . You go Vespa.

Correction: the vespa was designed by a man who liked to feel the wind on his vagina.

we had a LML star vespa I miss it

la conoooooce la vespaaaaaa?

Here in the UK, both Vespa and Lambretta and icons. it's over 40 years since I got my first little Vespa 50 Special, and i still have a garage full of Lambretta's and 1 Vespa 150 Super. Saying all that, I ride a Ducati 916 to work daily as it's simply beautiful. It there an Italian thing going on???? Probably.

Vespa Ducati Hasselblad Citroen DS

Well done, well done Enrico Piaggio for Vespa and Corradino d'Ascanio for designing the Vespa or Wasp in Italian, you made scooters stylish and maybe even invented scooters.  

God bless his soul.

Like boats and aircraft, beauty leads to performance.

I say it's a motorcycle.

He also hated scooters too by the looks of these things .

Vespa is Still unreliable! Italians make nothing reliable!

The Vespa was built after the war because the roads were destroyed in Italy. It was made out of necessity (didn't hear you mention that). I have 4 motorcycles, 2 are Vespa's. A 200 gt & a 150 lx however, the Honda cub is the worlds most selling vehicle ever..

Vespa, mods & Quadrophenia say no more... it was embraced!

"The Vespa was designed by a man who hated motorcycles". A very nice documentary about the Mini, I have to say.

I believe that Vespas of piaggios were made first

Honda click? 👍🏽

Moving the headlight from the fender to the handling bar was the icing on the cake, designwise. It looks 100% better in my opinion.

I think there's a lil bit of propaganda in that video (altough I'm not sure). Weren't the aviation manufacturers of the Axis prohibited from making planes after the WWII? They weren't keen on delivering smth to the people, they were trying to keep their companies afloat, and they couldnt sell what they were used to so low cost (relatively to producing planes ofc) production like scooters, chainsaws and other stuff was the only thing reasonable (for example, Messerschmit and other german plane manufacturers creating microcars after the war). I might be wrong, idk if italy was sanctioned the same way as germany

The Vespa was designed so that women could ride them wearing skirts. But you go ahead and believe any far-fetched BS you like.

that's maybe true - but what came out of it was the opposite !!!! :-) look how beautiful these Vespa look to us today , especially the first old ones !!! it's amazing !!! it really looks as a Wasp (Vespa in Italian) .... and since i drove a PX 150 Vespa many years ago - let me tell you it sure is strong ,torquey machine ! for a scooter, i mean

“I just hate how straight motorcycle looks. It needs more gay”!

my father own one of vespa 150 in bright red but it has alot of scratch but still running for ~50-45

As a motorcycle guy who realy hates scooters, Vespa is a real beauty and so cool

what made them to change the headlight position from mudguard to handle-bar...?

Ugliest moped

The Vespa is one of those things that I do not like or enjoy personally, but I do enjoy that other people like them.

You talk too much .

It is a motorized bicycle, therefore technically " a motor-cycle " despite it negates the point of a bike. The motor scooter is something with two wheels and an engine that is suitable for people who hate a motorbike. Engine is in the wrong place, and unbalances the vehicle, sitting position is awful for controlling the ride, small wheels grants instability, bad braking, no control. It's what a transvestite is to a woman: an attempt to improve a woman adding a penis, for those that cannot appreciate women.
But I like the Vespa, just because of cool design, despite I really dislike using it.
Ever "improvement" they made to the design spoils the fun.
Motorbiker here.

In 2023 Indian roads have the many Indian variants of it. Bajaj 150, Priya, Bajaj Super, Bajaj Chetak, Bajaj Cub..

Nice job!!!

What's a bicycle? Nobody ever rode a bike.

i love vespa

To say that before Vespa Italians thought of motorcycle brands of Triumph and Indian is absurd, considering how old Gilera, Benelli, Moto Guzzi & Ducati are.

Great video! From what the video said, the new Honda Metropolitan performs almost the same as the original Vespa 110 cc with the two stroke motor. I owned a Metropolitan and loved it. I bought a bigger scooter after that. It was great too. Since then I've owned a Grom clone and a KYMCO Agility 125 scooter. Of all of them, the Metropolitan was my favorite despite its top speed of probably 35 mph.

My only motor vehicle now is the Agility 125. It is more versatile than the Metropolitan just because of the speed. The bigger under seat trunk helps. What I don't like about scooters is that their suspension travel is minuscule; especially with the small wheels. I'm tempted to switch to a motorcycle just for the larger diameter wheels and longer travel suspensions.

I checked the miles per gallon for the first time in a long time yesterday. With the engine fully broken in it is getting 90.51 mpg. Which isn't great compared to the newer fuel injected 125 cc scooters by Honda and Yamaha; but it's better than cars and trucks.

Engine on the rear side... fun warranty on wet sleepy turn !

There is an incredible return of Vespas in Europe. I was in Munich a few weeks ago, and the Vespas are everywhere. It's easy to spot more than 2 dozens a day while walking the streets.

Thanks bart.

Ironically the best versions of the original Mini were made by Innocenti, to the point BMC (British Leyland) bought the brand in the 70's.
But the real deal that outperformed the Mini in terms of international success for an utilitarian car is the Renault 4 that was produced in many countries, except English-speaking ones... and could go on roads that the Mini couldn't use. Not as cute as the Mini, but way more versatile.

Piaggio know how to shaft their customers without grease when it comes to warranty claims these days.

Great video and History Lesson~!! I saw the funniest picture the other day and it showed an old dark green Vespa sitting on it's lift-up kick stand and painted across the back of the big wide seat it said= "No, I don't want a Harley"~! Damn funny~!

Great doc. I really ejoyed learning the history. Bravo

This video makes me want another Vespa... Already got an ET4 (first of the 4 stroke autos) but would really like an old 2 stroke PX, I've also got an old skool GSXR750 but the Vespa is so much more practical for my cross town commute and still great fun.

Am I the only who's always felt a strong relationship between the Fiat 500 and the Vespa? Kinda like the motorcycle and car equivalent of each other?

I guess I'm out of it as I love the Vespa but consider the Grom butt ugly. Plus I think the first faired and most beautiful motorcycle was the BMW R100RS by far. Oh well. Great video though.

I hate motorcycles, i hate hard-rock music, i hate rock image, i have Vespa !

Cushman was first large scale scooters maker. The idea was get womens to drive it. Common, how wear skirt and drive motorcycle, problem was solved. To get mens drive it was easier because all motor vehicles was wanted after war. No matter if they looks funny.

My scooter mechanic had this to say about motorbikes utility as compared to a scooter "you can't even carry a matchbox in a motorbike".