Italy's Vespa scooters turn 60

RICCIONE, Italy, April 19 (UPI) -- Named for a stinging insect, Italy's beloved small-wheeled Vespa scooters turn 60 years old this month, with its design almost unchanged.

To commemorate its longevity, an exhibit entitled "Vrooooom" opened in the coastal northeastern Italian city of Riccione this week, whose promotional material describes the little vehicle as an "icon of Italian design," The Times of London reported.

"The key to the Vespa is that it has a soul," Roberto Leardi, head of the Italian Vespa Club told the Times. "It is not just a piece of machinery."

The Vespa, which means "wasp" in Italian, was invented in April 1946 by Enrico Piaggio, an aircraft manufacturer looking for new post-war markets, and Corradino D'Ascanio, an aeronautical engineer and helicopter designer.

Since then, some 17 million of the scooters have been sold and 40 percent are still made at the Piaggio plant at Pontedera in northern Italy.