The beloved
Vespa scooter
By Mahendra Gonsalkorale
It is impossible to trace the history of the Vespa
scooter without some reference to World War 2. Most of our batch colleagues
were conceived during this period but most fortunately, in relative terms, Sri
Lanka or Ceylon as it was then called, escaped the terrible hardships of War.
It is sobering to reflect that estimated thirty six and a half million Europeans
died between 1939 and 1945 from war related causes (equivalent to the total
population of France at the outbreak of the war). No other conflict in recorded
history killed so many people in so short a time. Something we tend to forget
is that of these European casualties of war, at least 19 million (approximately
half) were non-combatants. The non-combatant deaths outnumbered the military
losses in all European countries with the exception of UK and Germany.
The post war period was devastating with massive
material destruction and shortages of everything. The migration problems we see
now are minute compared to the massive movement of people that happened in the
post war period. Europe became much more homogenised as a result. The word
“ethnic cleansing” was first used around this time. It is the hope of all
civilised people that we will never ever witness such a human catastrophe.
The need for mobility is basic and in the early post
war years, most people relied on public transport where available. Travelling
for leisure was restricted to the small number of economically well off people.
The motor car was invented many centuries ago but the first mass produced,
conveyor belt production car, was the American Ford Model –T produced in 1908.
Other early pioneers were Karl Benz in Germany and Nicholas Cugnot in France
who is credited with the first powered road vehicle. The development of the
motor car which began earlier in the century was interrupted during the war but
by the early 1950s, had been revived by the production of small cars with small
engines capable of delivering more miles per scarce gallons of petrol. The
Citroen CV2 in Italy, the Renault 4 in France, the Morris and Austin early
models in UK, the VW Beetle in Germany were typical examples. But in the
post-war transport revolution in Europe, the supply of cars could not keep up
with demand. This encouraged the growth of bikes, motor cycles and the new
brand of motor scooters. The first National motor scooter rally was held in
Rome on November 13th 1949 and was followed by a massive growth in the market
for these reasonably priced and convenient means of transport which were
symbols of urban freedom and mobility.
Under such circumstance was the Vespa born.
The word Vespa means Wasp in both Italian and Latin.
Up to 138 different versions of the Vespa have been built since production
began. When Vespa celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996, more than 15 million
of the scooters had been sold worldwide, making it the most successful scooter of
all time.
This picture shows the
early M6 model with a central section. This was replaced by the more familiar
one without the central bar with room for placing the feet behind the shield
(wings) housing the handgrip controls.
Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by
Piaggio. Piaggio was founded in1884 in Genoa by 20 year old Rinaldo Piaggio as
a luxury ship building company that expanded into producing rail carriages,
automobiles, marine craft and later aeronautics. Enrico
Piaggio and his brother Armando inherited the family engineering business on
their father’s death in 1938. Enrico decided to move the business from aircraft
to scooter production after the end of the war as there was a need for low cost
transport.
Upon seeing the first Vespa (MP6) for the first time,
Enrico Piaggio exclaimed: "Sembraunavespa!" ("It
resembles a wasp!"). Piaggio effectively named his new scooter on the
spot. If he was a Sri Lankan, he would have uttered the immortal words “YakomekaBambarek
wage!” and Vespa would have been known as “Bambara”.
The move to scooter production proved to be a prudent
one as the company would eventually become one of the biggest manufacturers of
two-wheeled vehicles in the world and in fact the Piaggio group is now Europe’s
largest manufacturer of two-wheeled vehicles and the world’s fourth largest
motorcycle manufacturer by unit sales. The group own 7 companies. Piaggio,
Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, Derbi, Vespa, Gilera and Ligier
From their inception, Vespa scooters have been known
for their painted, pressed steel unibody which combines a complete cowling for
the engine (enclosing the engine mechanism and concealing dirt or grease), a
flat floorboard (providing foot protection), and a prominent front fairing
(providing wind protection) into a structural unit.
In 1950 Piaggio opened a factory in Germany and a year
later in the UK (Douglas of Bristol). The Vespa was soon manufactured in 13
countries and sold in 114.
As a result of the MOD subculture that developed in
the 1960s, the United Kingdom became Vespa’s second largest global market.
When Vespa celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996,
more than 15 million of the scooters had been sold worldwide
Sadly, in its country of birth Italy, Vespa popularity
is declining. According to data published by ANCMA, moped sales in Italy have
declined from a peak of 600,000 in 1980 to 26,727 in 2014 - a vertiginous fall
of 97 percent. Economic crisis, demographic shifts, and the changing habits of
the younger generation are all conspiring to end the moped culture widely
associated with Italian life since World War II."The younger generation is
just not as interested in mopeds as it used to be," Claudio Deviti, head
of the motorcycle unit of ANCMA, the National Association of Motorcycle,
Bicycle and Accessories, told Al Jazeera.
The great rival for the scooter owning fraternity in
the Medical Faculty was the Lambretta, made in Milan by Innocenti, but that is
another story.
I would like to refer readers to a previous post by
Lucky,"Two Wheelers" of the Batch, 25th November 2015. In
this post, he named some of our Vespa owners. I hope readers would add to this
list. Those who owned the newer Vespa models (the handle in particular
was different) were: SanathLamabadusuriya (I think it had
registration number 4 Sri 955), MahendraCollure and the late
LGDK Herath. Douglas Mulgirigama owned an older model Vespa. Rajan
(Patas) Ratnesar was the other who used an older model of Vespa.
Lucky, and the comments, cover the
Vespa. Lambretta, BSA.MotorGuzzi and Honda.
Does anybody know a lady Medico who
owned a Vespa? I would have thought it was very suitable for a lady who would
like to avoid straddling for reasons best known to her!
Posted by Lucky Abey at 7:36 AM 13
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Labels: Literary, Miscellaneous
