Piaggio & Vespa

Scooter Factory

G

iven my cultural predispo-

sition to rockers, not mods,

it is understandable that

I was wholly ignorant of scooter

genesis or technology. Assuming,

gentle reader, a similar ignorance

on your part, indulge me in a little

history as it eventually gives birth

to the Aprilia RSV4.

Piaggio follows a narrative

not too dissimilar to Kawasaki.

Both were founded as nation-

al champions of heavy industry.

Both built railroad locomotives

and rolling stock. Both built air-

craft and aircraft engines for the

Axis powers. Both had their man-

ufacturing plants obliterated by

Allied bombing. At that point they

diverge in strategy, with Kawasaki

continuing to make rolling stock

and ships while Piaggio focused

more on individualized transpor-

tation and aerospace.

Enter Corrandino D’Ascanio,

an aeronautic engineer famous for

developing the adjustable pitch

propeller and designing the fi rst

modern helicopter for Agusta.

Yes. That Agusta. It was sales of

Agusta helicopters that fi nanced

all that GP racing.

As mentioned in our July-

issue story about the Piaggio Mu-

seum, D’Ascanio did not like mo-

torcycles. This glaring character

fl aw drove him to use his aircraft

background to design a two-wheel-

er which could be ridden by any-

one, with easy-to-change wheels

(in case of puncture), no greasy

chain, and a step-through design.

Hence the enclosed drive-

train, the low center of gravity, the

single-sided front end (based on

an airplane’s landing gear), and

the monocoque chassis. The body

of the D’Ascanio scooter is created

by sheet metal pressings welded

together to form the load bear-

ing frame, á la some aeronautical

frames. Inspired by the buzzing

two-stroke engine, the new vehicle

was christened the “Vespa” or, in

English, “Wasp.”

European and USA market

Vespas are built in a factory in

Pontedera, Italy, which also has

many Piaggio corporate offi ces for

design, logistics, and sourcing. It

is a huge, massive compound and

your correspondent was only al-

lowed to tour one building which

housed the painting and assembly

lines for Vespas.

The Pontedera plant assem-

bles Vespa and Piaggo 50cc,125cc,

150cc, and some 300cc machines

as well as Vespa Electrics. Ves-

pas still use the monocoque ar-

chitecture (i.e. the body is the

frame) while the Piaggio scooters

use steel-tube frames with plastic

body panels.

THE PAINT ASSEMBLY LINE

IS TOP SECRET! Well, not really,

but no photography was allowed.

Here is what it looked like from

initial wipe down to fi nal accep-

tance testing.

As any home sprayer knows,

preparation is the key to a good

paint job and dust is the absolute

enemy. The painting line has metal

grate fl oors with water fl owing un-

derneath them to capture and re-

move any contaminants. Plus, the

air fl ow in the rooms runs from the

fi ltered intake ceiling to exhaust in

the fl oor. This air fl ow keeps any

latent particulates moving away

from the paintable surfaces. There

are air locks in the corridors to de-

contaminate personnel. GeicoTai-

ki-Sha is a global provider of au-

tomated industrial painting lines.

In 2016 they provided Piaggio with

the automation, paint booths, ov-

ens, and even the Fanuc robots

which spray the various fi nishes.

The process starts with eight

women rubbing down the scooter

bodies which are moving along

on stands connected to a convey-

or chain, to clean their surfaces

perfectly. This is the last manual

(Above, Left) The entrance to the Piaggio Pontedera factory. (Above) In-

side a huge building, six assembly lines produce Piaggio and Vespa

scooters. Here, pallets carry drive trains while frames and bodies move

overhead. (Below) Plant Manager Francesco Marmeggi explains de-

tails of an electric scooter. (Bottom) A Vespa Elettrica moves down the

electric scooter line; just 25 are built per day. Photos by Sam Fleming.

SHOPS

By Sam Q. Fleming

58—Roadracing World, August 2019