Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

By Andrea Monti

6 March, 2025

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One Shot Story

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automotive photography
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Vespa, in Italian, is not only the name of the stingy and frightening wasp. The word also identifies one of the world’s most famous examples of industrial design, dating back to 1946, and made internationally famous by the 1953 Hollywood motion picture Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

The creator of this iconic scooter — an example of a perfect blend of ingenuity, style and appeal — was Corradino D’Ascanio. An aeronautical engineer from my home region, Abruzzo, he also designed and built the first helicopter, whose first test flight took place in the city of Pescara, a town near Popoli, a small village in the hinterland where D’Ascanio was born.

Although the various models produced over the years have retained the original character, the lines of the old ones are still striking, as shown in this photo of a Vespa used as a prop in a shop display in Via del Tritone, Rome.

I took the photo with my Nikon 35TI just before it broke down after years of service in various part of the world. Maybe there will be some chance to bring it back from the grave, but that is another story.

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About The Author

By Andrea Monti
My name is Andrea Monti. I’m an Italian free-lance journalist, photographer and – in my spare time – an hi-tech lawyer. The works I am more proud of are covering live jazz, pop and rock concerts for an Italian online music magazine and Opera and prose for a 200 years-old theatre. I also do sport photography mainly in athletics and fighting disciplines. You may find out more about me on https://andrea.monti.photography
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Jeffery Luhn on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 06/03/2025

The Vespa is a classic. Thank you, Italy!
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David Dutchison on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 06/03/2025

Lovely shot.
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Kevin Montanaro on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 07/03/2025

I had a '63 Vespa a couple decades ago, and was active in the vintage scooter scene, rallies and such, and took so many Vespa/ Lambretta inspired photos. Such a distinctive-looking creature, positively begs to be photographed.
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David Kieltyka on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 07/03/2025

I first read this as "Sting ON the Vespa," expecting to see a still photo or two from the film Quadrophenia. ☺️
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Gil Aegerter on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 08/03/2025

Nice shot! In college, I had a photojournalism professor named Jimmy Bedford. Some 20 or so years before I knew him, he had set off from New York with a Vespa (shipped to England first) and proceeded to ride it around the world. Along the way, he worked in Kenya and India, among other places, made friends with the king of Afghanistan (he visited him in exile in Italy every summer) and had a billion and one other adventures. There were two constants: His trusty Leica, and his Vespa. I still have a book he gave me about his travels, "Around the World on a Nickel" -- he said he got back to New York with exactly five cents less than when he started. Inside the book he gave me, he taped a nickel as "fare for a round-the-world trip."
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Marcus Gunaratnam on Sting of the Vespa – A One Shot Story

Comment posted: 08/03/2025

This article certainly brings back memories, I when residing in Sri Lanka(where I was born) in the 1960's owned a Vespa 125ml engine model and it used to do over 100miles to the gallon,and had a spare tank under the seat that gave another 20 odd miles of travel to get to the next garage selling petrol.I was sad to leave it behind,and it was the time of Konica autoreflex and Miranda cameras,it was a time when I owned a Pracktica with a non return mirror and the mirror came down when you wound the film .I used to know a deaf photo shop owner who had a 'veiw camera' and took plates.Ilearned most of Darkroom work from him, as he was meticulous and used a 'spotone'to touch up the negs.
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