TODAY IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE Italian cities without their legions of scooters propped up against ochrepainted walls, or bumping across cobbled piazzas with young couples on the seat. But, though the world’s irst motorised two-wheeler had been built back in 1884, by the 1940s the motorbike market had hardly spread beyond riders who didn’t mind wearing heavy-duty leathers.
PHOTOGRAPHS: VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890), SELF-PORTRAIT, 1887 OIL PAINT ON CANVAS 470 X 350 MM PARIS, MUSÉE D’ORSAY © RMN, GIOVANNI GUARINO PHOTO/ALAMY
Enter Piaggio. The 1884-founded company was looking to diversify from military vehicles into low-cost motor-scooters to appeal to a country rebuilding ater World War II. The irst prototype, the MP5, did not impress the boss – the blocky design was nicknamed ‘Paperino’, the Italian for Donald Duck. The challenge was taken up by Corradino d’Ascanio, an engineer who’d been trained in aeronautics and disliked motorbikes.
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April 2019
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