VESPA G.S. 150 MOTOR-SCOOTER

The Vespa has become one of the greatest symbols of postwar Italian reconstruction. At the close of World War Two Italy's manufacturing and transport infrastructures were in disarray. Raw materials such as steel and fuel were limited, and consequently a universal and economic means of personal transport was urgently required. The Piaggio company had manufactured aeroplanes since 1915, however in 1944/45 the company's president, Enrico Piaggio, abandoned aircraft production and commissioned the company's chief engineer, Corradino d'Ascanio to instead design and manufacture an affordable scooter that would be launched commercially in 1946 as the "Wasp". With his experience of helicopter and aircraft engine design, d'Ascanio produced the first prototypes of the Vespa in 1945. Piaggio's aeronautical background was brought to bear on the Vespa, which in addition to reliable mechanical systems and a unique one-piece pressed-steel frame, expressed a modern and fluid aerodynamic styling that has remained unchanged to the present day.
The 1957 Vespa Grand Sport 150 is considered by enthusiasts and design historians as the definitive Vespa, resolved through an immaculate fusion of performance, technology and styling.