Vespa is an Italian luxury brand of scooters and mopeds manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian. The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A. of Pontedera, Italy to a full line of scooters and one of seven companies today owned by Piaggio.
The unsprung mass of a vehicle is the mass of the suspension, wheels or tracks, and other components directly connected to them. This contrasts with the sprung mass supported by the suspension, which includes the body and other components within or attached to it. Components of the unsprung mass include the wheel axles, wheel bearings, wheel hubs, tires, and a portion of the weight of driveshafts, springs, shock absorbers, and suspension links. Brakes that are mounted inboard are part of a vehicle's sprung mass.
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other. The tuning of suspensions involves finding the right compromise. It is important for the suspension to keep the road wheel in contact with the road surface as much as possible, because all the road or ground forces acting on the vehicle do so through the contact patches of the tires. The suspension also protects the vehicle itself and any cargo or luggage from damage and wear. The design of front and rear suspension of a car may be different.
Innocenti was an Italian machinery works, originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1920. Over the years, they produced Lambretta scooters as well as a range of automobiles, mainly of British Leyland origins. The brand was retired in 1996, six years after being acquired by Fiat.
Hydrolastic is a type of space-efficient automotive suspension system used in many cars produced by British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successor companies.
The Lambretta Special X (SX), is a production scooter made by Innocenti Lambretta from 1966 to 1969 it replaced the Li Special 150 and TV200.
The Harley-Davidson Topper was the only motor scooter that the Harley-Davidson Motor Company ever produced.
General Corradino D'Ascanio was an Italian aeronautical engineer. D'Ascanio designed the first production helicopter, for Agusta, and designed the first motor scooter for Ferdinando Innocenti. After the two fell out, D'Ascanio helped Enrico Piaggio produce the original Vespa.
A scooter is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motor scooters have been made since at least 1914.
Automobile Products of India (API) was founded in 1949 at Bombay, by the British company Rootes Group, and later bought over by M. A. Chidambaram of the MAC Group from Madras. The company manufactured Lambretta scooters, API Three Wheelers under license from Innocenti of Italy and Automobile ancillaries, notably Clutch and Braking systems. API's registered offices were earlier in Mumbai, later shifted to Chennai, in Tamil Nadu. The manufacturing facilities were located in Mumbai and Aurangabad in Maharashtra and in Ambattur, Chennai. The company has not been operational since 2002.
Lambretta is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti.
The Ford Taunus 12 M is a range of large family saloons/sedans that were produced by Ford Germany between 1966 and 1970. There were two different engine sizes in the 12M. Two larger engines were available in the otherwise very similar Ford Taunus 15 M. From the outside the 15M was differentiated by its grill and rectangular headlights from the 12M which had round front lights. A complicating feature was the availability, at extra cost, of one of the larger engines from the 15M in the 12M.
Industriewerke Ludwigsfelde is an automotive factory in Ludwigsfelde in Brandenburg, just south of Berlin in Germany. The factory is part of Daimler AG and since 1991 it has made Mercedes-Benz vans. It is also the producer of the Multicar line of automobiles.
The Lambretta Model A is the first production model of Lambretta scooters. It was Ferdinando Innocenti's idea of a cheap type of transport for Italy in the mid-late 1940s.
The Lambretta GP/DL range was the final range of classic Lambrettas to be produced before Innocenti was sold to British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1971. The range was called the DL in most countries, but was called the GP in Britain and some other countries. This was to associate the scooters with Formula One which was extremely popular and successful in the late 1960s.
The Moto Guzzi Triporteurs were wheeled transport motorcycles (triporteurs) of the Moto Guzzi brand. In Italy, they are called "motocarri".
The Lambretta Model C was the third production Scooter made by Innocenti's Lambretta. The Model C was the first Lambretta scooter to be imported the United Kingdom. The C is seen as a more reliable bike than previous models although it remained very similar to its predecessors.
The MV Agusta 125 Pullman was a motorcycle produced by the Italian manufacturer MV Agusta from 1953 to 1956. The model achieved a good sales success, and had the highest production of any machine from MV Agusta. Many brought the bike as the only means of family transport or as a work vehicle. Despite the questionable aesthetics, the Pullman offered a comfortable ride, derived by the driving position, soft suspension and large section tires. This was particularly appreciated by users, so much so that they were imitated by some competitors. 27,000 machines of this model series were produced. The model was also produced under licence in Spain by Avello, where it was marketed as the MV Avello 125 Pullman Turismo.
The Lambretta V-Special is a scooter produced by Innocenti S.A. under the brand name Lambretta. The bike has been introduced in 3 models the V50 Special, V125 Special and the V200 Special. The V-Special began production in 2017 and is based on the SYM Fiddle.
The Lambretta Model D was a scooter produced by Lambretta as a direct replacement for the Model C. The Model D was the first Innocenti scooter to be manufactured outside of Italy as the licence was sold in Europe, Asia and South America.
