A Two-Door Vespa That Draws Crowds

BY A. J. BAIME

Jay Paul Santangelo, a 58-year-old private wealth manager living in Denver, on his 1959 Vespa 400, as told to A. J. Baime.

Everybody has heard of Vespa scooters, built by parent company Piaggio. It has been the everyday scooter in Italy for generations, and an icon in America, too. Few people know that, at one time, Vespa tried to build an everyday four-wheel car.

The Vespa 400 was actually built in France, and it made its debut in 1957. Not everybody was happy about it. Fiat, the biggest carmaker in Italy, reportedly threatened to make a scooter in retaliation. Piaggio made about 30,000 Vespa 400s, and probably lost money on every one. Production ended in 1961.

Every year I attend car auctions in Scottsdale, Ariz. I have a small collection of Italian cars and old Italian motorcycles, partly to honor my family, which comes from Potenza, Italy. I saw this 1959 Vespa 400 in the auction catalog and thought, “God, that’s a cool little car.

And it’s Italian.”

As it turned out, I couldn’t attend the auction, but an associate from my work team was there. He kept telling me that this Vespa 400 was drawing all kinds of attention.

When the bidding started, I had him on the phone. He bid for me, we won the auction at $40,320, and a week later, this Vespa showed up in my driveway.

I knew it was small, but I was still in shock when I saw it. It seemed smaller than a golf cart. It has a 400-cubic-centimeter, twostroke, two-cylinder engine tucked in the back, and a convertible roll top. There is no trunk in front, but rather a small drawer that you pull out to access the battery. The man who restored it is sort of a renowned Vespa expert, and he did an amazing job. One of the first things I did with this car was take my sons to school. That is when I realized what makes this car so great. There is a policeman who directs traffic in front of the school, and as soon as he saw the Vespa, he started laughing. The next thing I knew, the teachers, the kids, they all surrounded this vehicle. It was such a joyous moment, it was almost overwhelming.

There is a reason the Vespa 400 didn’t become a sales phenomenon like the Vespa scooter. I have seen the horsepower listed at 14 and let me tell you, I have experienced all 14 of them. The car has trouble making it up small hills. It is bouncy over 25 miles an hour. But it has an uncanny talent for being charming.

I started taking the Vespa to car shows. It can be surrounded by Ferraris worth exponentially more, but it gets all the attention. My kids love it, because it is built kid-size.

Cars are built for two purposes: for transportation and for fun. This car is definitely fun. It is good at spreading joy.