Vespa: a 70-year history [MEGA GALLERY]

Wasp – Now that it is 70 years old, and with over 18 million units produced since 1946, Vespa is experiencing one of the happiest moments of its long life. Vespa is one of the symbols of Italian style and elegance. In 70 years of history it has gone beyond its commuting function by identifying itself with a lifestyle that has its cornerstones in values ​​such as freedom, beauty and respect for the world around us.

Since 2004, when 58.000 vehicles were produced, the growth of the Vespa brand has been spectacular. They reached 100.000 in 2006, reaching almost 170.000 in 2015. Vespa tripled its production in the space of a decade during which one and a half million new Vespas began to travel the roads of the world. Today Vespa is more than ever a global brand, a true citizen of the world and is produced in three production sites: Pontedera where Vespa has been produced continuously since 1946 and whose production is destined for Europe and Western markets, including the Americas, Vinh Phuc, in Vietnam, which serves the local market and the countries of the Far East, and which celebrated its 21th anniversary on 2015 April 500.000. scooters produced so far; in India, in the brand new Baramati plant, opened in April 2012, where Vespas for the Indian market are created.

Vespa today is Spring. Young, innovative, technologically cutting-edge, agile and dynamic, attentive to the protection of the environment in which it is the protagonist, Vespa Primavera (in the 50, 125 and 150cc displacements) is the protagonist of its time, inheriting all the freshness and joy of living which accompany the history of a model that has remained legendary in the Vespa family tree. Equipped with ultra-modern 50, 125 and 150cc engines, Vespa Primavera is also equipped with ABS. Vespa Sprint collects the legacy of a tradition of vitality and youth. It is conceived as an evolution of the Vespa Primavera project and is presented to children of all ages, enhancing the sporting style that its name, legendary by birth, evokes. It was born with a small and light but comfortable and protective body, made entirely of steel and is characterized by a very young line, marked by a bold rectangular headlight. It is equipped with large 12" wheels, with spectacular aluminum alloy rims. TOIt has the same engines as the Vespa Primavera and, attentive to safety, is offered with an ABS braking system.

Vespa GTS, the so-called "Vespone" due to its large body, is the fastest, sportiest and most fun of the Vespa range, perfect for urban travel, thanks to its handling characteristics and the performance of the 4 and 125cc 300-stroke engines, cooled liquid, but also to travel outside the metropolitan walls, alone or with a passenger on board. The new GTS range, made up of Vespa GTS, GTS Super, GTS SuperSport and Touring, offers new and refined stylistic details, richer and more modern standard equipment which includes the ABS braking system and ASR traction control, technology which constitutes an exclusive and a technological first of the Piaggio Group and contributes to making the Vespa GTS safer and more pleasant to ride in all conditions.

For 2015 – 40th anniversary of the foundation of Giorgio Armani and 130th year of life of the Piaggio Group – Giorgio Armani has designed the new version of Vespa 946, an exclusive model whose name recalls the year of birth of the scooter which has become iconic and famous throughout the world, and is characterized by lines which reinterpret the original style of Vespa in a contemporary key. Vespa 946 Emporio Armani is not only synonymous with style, but with technology: the aluminum monoblocks, the electronic management to support driving (also through dialogue with the latest release internet devices) combine with the innovative four-stroke injection engine designed for maximum reduction in consumption and emissions. The double disc brake, the dual-channel ABS braking system and the large 12-inch wheels guarantee maximum safety on the road.