Lot No: 308
1967 Piaggio Vespa 150cc Scooter
Registration no. TBC
Chassis no. VNC1T021067
Engine no. VBC1M532138
Along with the rival Lambretta, the Piaggio-built Vespa mobilized an entire generation of Italians in the immediate post-war years, the humble scooter going on to become part of youth culture in the 1960s as favorite transport of the fashion conscious. The end of hostilities in 1945 had left a number of companies that hitherto relied on military contracts looking for alternatives, Piaggio among them. Forbidden by the Allies from resuming his aviation business, Enrico Piaggio instructed his chief designer Corradino d'Ascanio to design a scooter, for which he believed a potential market existed, particularly among women. d'Ascanio's aviation background meant that he was well versed in techniques of stressed-skin construction, and these were deployed in creating the Vespa's monocoque chassis, a revolutionary development at the time. The name 'Vespa' (wasp) is said to have been