"Heritage, myth, symbol"

Italy wants to protect Vespa as national heritage

Italy wants to have the cult Vespa scooter protected as national cultural heritage.(Bild: APA/AFP/Andreas SOLARO)

Italy wants to have the cult Vespa scooter recognized as national cultural heritage, thereby pre-empting restrictions on registration due to emission limits. A bill to this effect from the right-wing governing party Lega led by Transport Minister Matteo Salvini has been tabled in parliament in Rome.

"In view of its symbolic value and outstanding manufacturing quality as well as its historical, artistic and cultural value", the "Vespa Piaggio" motorcycle, patented on 23 April 1946, is to be recognized as "national cultural heritage", according to the bill, which is actively supported by Salvini.

"Italian symbol on two wheels"
"Including the Vespa in the list of vehicles of national interest in order to protect it from any kind of traffic restriction is a common sense proposal that we actively supported in order to defend a heritage, a myth and an Italian symbol on two wheels that is known and admired all over the world," Salvini emphasized in a letter. He is campaigning for the Vespa to be allowed to "ride freely" as a national heritage, regardless of any restrictions relating to pollutant emissions.

The Vespa is one of the most famous industrial design products in the world today, so much so that it is rightly considered an icon of Italian design and is exhibited in the most prestigious museums of modern art, science and technology around the world, explained Salvini. The Vespa is part of the permanent collection of the "Triennale" design museum in Milan and the Mo.Ma. in New York.

Vespa a worldwide bestseller
The economic value of the Vespa brand estimated by global brand consultancy Interbrand for the Piaggio Group in 2022 is €1079 million, an increase of 19% compared to the previous year. In the last 10 years, Piaggio has produced and sold more than 1.6 million Vespa models worldwide.

The success story began in 1946 with the launch of the first series production of the Vespa 98cc. The cult scooter was designed by Italian engineer Corradino D'Ascanio, who actually wanted to build helicopters. As a former designer of war planes, he wanted to produce a simple, economical and easy-to-use vehicle and designed something new on a factory site in Pontedera that had been destroyed by the war on behalf of the entrepreneur Enrico Piaggio.

The Vespa soon began its triumphal march around half the world - all the way to Hollywood. The dream couple Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn were seen rattling through Rome on a Vespa in the 1953 hit film "A Heart and a Crown" - the wind in their hair, the lust for life in their eyes. The scene entered Italy's collective memory as a declaration of love for the Italian scooter icon. Even today, it is easier to get around Rome and Naples on a scooter than by bus or car.