Piaggio Vespa

Vespa Scooters and Their History
Executive Summary about Piaggio Vespa by Kenneth Elliott

Piaggio Vespa. Vespa an italian built scooter manufactured by Piaggio. Piaggio is Europe's largest manufacturer of two wheeled vehicles and the fourth largest in the world. Over the years Vespa's have evolved from single model scooters to a full line of scooters that will satisfy even the most picky consumer.

Vespa's have been a hit since the first one rolled off the assembly line. But now they are mostly known for the painted, pressed steel unibody that houses the complete engine compartment. The flat board to keep your feet and a prominent front fairing (mainly used for wind protection).

Vespas have been used in racing and have become extremely popular in the United States. The racing classes in the United States are the Small Frame Class, the Automatics Class, the Specials Class and the Stock Class. There are only five models of the Vespa being manufactured today. They are the PX, the CVT S, the CVT LX, the CVT GT and the CVT GTS. The final four are modern transmission and the first is a classic, manual transmission. Even though there are only five models in production today there have been 138 different versions of the scooter since its inception.

With today´s gas prices it is no wonder why Vespa scooters are so popular after so many years of service. Outfitted with two new models that are environmentally friendly and fuel efficient the Piaggio built Vespa returned to the United States in the year 2000. The ET2 model replaced the usual mineral oil with synthetic oil which meant they emitted less smoke while driving.

The company has also released a version of the Vespa that is a hybrid gas/electric for even for fuel economy. They also introduced a scooter with two wheels in front and one in back which grips the road better.