It was 1956: the Piaggio factory in Pontedera celebrated the millionth scooter to leave the production lines. The Vespa had been created exactly ten years earlier, in 1946, the brainchild of the engineer Corradino d’Ascanio.
So the first important milestone in the first decade of production was sixty years ago. Since then, the world-famous Vespa has collected many other production and commercial milestones, and this year celebrates its 70th anniversary. Since 2004, when 58,000 scooters were produced, the Vespa brand has experienced remarkable growth. It increased to 100,000 scooters in 2006, 122,000 in 2009, and almost 180,000 in 2014. In the last ten years, the Vespa has more than tripled its production, with over 1,500,000 scooters sold worldwide and a closing forecast for 2015 alone of more than 166,000. In addition, in its “first” 70 years, the Vespa has sold a total of 18 million scooters for use on the world's roads.
The Vespa is the expression of a unique and distinctive life style. Its timeless success stems from an extraordinary historical, symbolic and iconographical heritage. The Vespa is the icon of two-wheel mobility, the brand that “invented” the scooter concept, rooted in values linked to “Italianess”, a zest for life, a love of beauty.
Backed by a solid heritage, the Vespa has a soul that is both vintage and modern, unrivalled worldwide popularity and a consistent image on all world markets. Like the true global brand it is.
(Seydou Keïta Photographer; Bamako, Mali 1921-Paris 2001)
UNITED STATES: VESPA ADVERTISEMENT, 1964
Problems finding a parking space on American streets? The problem was just the same 55 years ago... but luckily there was, and is, the Vespa. This old advertisement is a gem: filmed and broadcast in the USA, it publicises the Italian scooter as the ideal solution for traffic- and stress-free mobility.
Vespa in USA 1961
Motociclismo magazine has been circulating this video with a collection of Vespa ads from the Swinging Sixties in the United Kingdom.
Vespa advertising in GB
VESPA ADVERTISEMENT IN SPAIN, 1955
This Vespa promotional video from Spain in the 1960s is an authentic mini-musical, with its starlets and dancers: in a riot of colour, it proclaims how much women love the Italian scooter. Smart, easy to ride... a two-wheeler that everyone wants.
Spanish Vespa Advertising