Scooters
and Films 1946 - 1962
The
scooter is an essential part of daily life in Italy.
Here, in Italy in the 1950's it helped bridge the gap between
those who could and couldn't afford motor transport.
Even with the advent of the FIAT 500, many could not afford a
car, yet needed transport to and from work. The scooter provoded
the ideal solution.
It was initially made famous in mainstream movies by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday in the early 1950's.
There were two
main brand names at the time - Vespa and Lambretta, although many
other manufacturers were in existence.
To appeal to the hot-blooded Meditrranean market Vespa often used pictures or photographs of attractive ladies in their advertisments!
Lambretta often used pictures denoting the good life and suggesting stylishness....
Nevertheless we cannot underestimate the power of movies to advertise.
Many scooters were seen in Italian and French films of the 1950's and 1960's.
Here are some stills from the era of the Virtual Via Veneto Time Machine - with many thanks to
Finally,
we could not finish this discussion without showing an example
of the character added by scooters to Fellini films of the Virtual
Via Veneto period.
Here we see Marcello and Paparazzi in Marcello's Triumph TR3 (to the right of the picture), travelling with a whole entourage of reporters and journalists alog ewhat may be the Appian way just ouside Rome in
There
are many more resources
on scooters elsewhere....nevertheless if you wish to stay
here on the Virtual Via Veneto Time Machine there are many more things we could discuss
over a cup of good Italian coffee.
Last updated 9th of February 1999
