Lepod's Blog

Pontedera (named because it was built near a bridge over the river Era) is a very pleasant little industrial town of about 28000 people, which is the headquarters of the Piaggio company. The buildings tend to be orange with lovely green shutters, and sometimes tiny balconies. The Piaggio factory, established in 1884, produced very stylish trains, and was a major aircraft manufacturer until the end of WWII. Now it is the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of scooters and motorcycles. It is probably most famous for the Vespa scooter, designed by aeronautical engineer Corradino D’Ascanio, the first Vespa being produced in 1946. This design revolutionised two wheeled transportation, and helped put post war Italians back on the road after the devastation of the war.

As a great Vespa fan, and some time Vespa owner, it was a fantastic privilege for me to be able to visit the site of the original factory, and to be able to see up close the very earliest Vespa models, as well as a great representation of the factory’s output over the years.

Just inside the entrance there are four or five PX200 model Vespas which have been involved in round the world trips, and have been placed in the museum just as they were when they had finished. It’s a great testimonial to the reliability of the PX200. The next room holds the Piaggio archives, commisioned by Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, and part of a research project between Piaggio and the University of Pisa into the company’s origins. The archive currently holds over 150,000 documents with many on display, for instance the papers drawn up to purchase the land the factory was built on, original designs of the buildings, all the HR documentation that contains the details of all the workers, employees and managers who worked at Piaggio from 1917 to the 1970s. There were newspaper articles about early helicopter designs, Piaggio family marriages, the Pope viewing the 1 millionth vespa, all very well displayed on large posters.

In the next room, there are Vespas everywhere. Above you can see the stand holding a selection of models from over the years.

There is also quite a lot of Vespa art, such as the stretched PX200 above, and lots of classic Vespa advertisements like these ones:

Or how about the Dali Vespa? In 1962, two Spanish students rode from Madrid to Athens, stopping at Cadagues where they met Salvador Dali, who decorated their Vespas for them. When they reached Rome, they were apparently directly received by the Pope.

Here’s an aerial view showing some of the very earliest Vespas, and also some Apes (three wheeled Vespas) including a very nice Ape fire engine.

There was a lot to see, we spent most of the day there apart from when we went to Pontedera railway station to collect Pauline’s colleague James Green, who was attending a conference in Pisa. Here’s a few more photos:

In the picture above, you can see the giant PX200 designed for a motor show in the 1980’s, also the flying Vespa which was made for a spy movie in the late ’60s.

We really enjoyed our time at the museum, well I did anyway, and we managed to purchase some Vespa mementos at the bookshop on the way out, so it was a very successful day. And, if I now buy a new Vespa when we get home, Pauline will not be able to act surprised!

Next – off to see the famous leaning tower in Pisa.