Piaggio Vettura Concept

The Piaggio Vettura Concept, revealed in 1974, was a daring departure for the Italian scooter maker best known for the Vespa.

Penned by Paolo Martin — the designer behind several of the era’s most memorable experiments, including the Ferrari Modulo — the Vettura was a tiny, ultra-futuristic microcar driven by a 50-cc engine.

Compact, lightweight and starkly minimalist, it was clearly conceived for dense, fuel-conscious urban environments.

But despite its originality and Piaggio’s production know-how, the Vettura remained a single prototype and never advanced to series manufacture.

Even so, it stands as an early exploration of the space between scooters and cars — a niche that would re-emerge decades later with modern micro-EVs.

Piaggio was founded in 1884 by Rinaldo Piaggio, then 20 years old, and first built locomotives and railway carriages. The first Vespa left the Pontedera works in April 1946. The three-wheeled Ape followed in 1948, and a steering wheel was added in 1971 to create the Ape Car, which makes the Vettura part of a longer line of small Piaggio utility vehicles.