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Vespa 400

Also known as Piaggio Vespa 400, ACMA Vespa 400

The scooter maker’s car, designed in Italy and built in France, so as not to provoke Fiat: a little two-stroke saloon with a roll-back roof and its battery in a drawer behind the grille, launched with two Grand Prix drivers at its side.

Mint green small car with whitewall tyres and a rally plaque under its bumper, on block paving by a house.
A green 1958 Vespa 400 with whitewall tyres on German plates in 2018.Photo: BlueBreezeWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

The spec plate

Vespa 400

P/ACMA · Fourchambault

Built
1957–⁠1961Shown to the press on 26 September 1957; built until 1961
Country
FranceBuilt by ACMA at Fourchambault, Nièvre, to Piaggio’s Italian design
Maker
ACMA, FourchambaultPiaggio’s French subsidiary, maker of French Vespa scooters since 1951
Engine
393 cc two-stroke twin, at the rearAir-cooled by a turbine, with rotary-valve induction
Power
12 to 14 hpAbout 9–10 kW; 14 hp from 1959, the sources mixing DIN and SAE
Length
2,850 mm1,270 mm wide, 1,250 mm high
Weight
360 kgBy the 1958 brochure; 380 kg in other sources
Seats
2Room behind for luggage or, at a pinch, a child
Wheels
4Rear engine, rear-wheel drive, independent suspension all round
Price new
345,000 FThe Tourisme, October 1957; Automobilia gives 360,000 F
Production
30,9761957–⁠61, credited to L’Argus; 29,873 by another count
Survives
YesA club since 1992; owners on five continents
Top speed
83km/h83 km/h51.8 mph; about 85–90 km/h by the French Wikipedia

How big is it?

True proportion

2.85 m

It is 120 mm shorter than a Fiat 500, about 1.6 adults laid end to end, and twice the length of a Peel P50.

  • 1.27 m wide
  • 360 kg: about five adults
  • Two seats, and room behind for luggage or a child
  • Rear-hinged doors
Drawn at true proportion. The track is 3.6 metres long; the adult stands at the same scale. The Peel P50 is the smallest production car, on every page for comparison.

The story

History

The cover of L’Action automobile et touristique for October 1957 shows three small cars on a harbour quay among yachts, one blue, one white and one red, with Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra beside them. The caption says it was taken during the official presentation.1 The car was the Vespa 400, and its makers had chosen its godfathers well.

Piaggio, the maker of the Vespa scooter, wanted a car for scooter riders ready to move up to four wheels.12 The start came from Siata of Turin, which Piaggio had taken over, according to Automobilia. Siata had developed a study called the Mitzi: a two-seat monocoque with a 434 cc side-valve four-stroke twin at the back, weighing 395 kg (871 lb) and good for 80 km/h (50 mph).1 Jacques Vuillaumier tells it slightly differently: Siata could not get an engine from Fiat and sold its study to Piaggio, which fitted a 400 cc engine derived from the Piaggio Ape, its three-wheeled scooter truck.2 When the work began is not agreed: RM and the Weiner museum say 1952, the German Wikipedia 1955.345

Fiat stood in the way. It dominated the Italian small-car market, its Nuova 500 was due in the summer of 1957, and it supplied the sheet steel for Piaggio’s scooters. Fiat disliked the idea of a rival, and Piaggio gave up building the car in Italy.13 Some writers say Fiat leaned on Italian component suppliers. That is not documented. Vuillaumier says only that it probably did, and that it was even said at the time that Fiat would launch a scooter if Piaggio made a car.6 So the Vespa 400 became an Italian design built under licence by a French subsidiary.

Fourchambault

That subsidiary was ACMA, founded in the autumn of 1950 to assemble Vespa scooters in France, with Prince Marc de Beauvau-Craon as its president. It took over a denationalised aircraft factory of the SNCAC at Fourchambault, in the Nièvre, hired 300 workers, and sent out its first scooters in March 1951: nearly 9,000 that year and more than 28,000 the next, by then entirely French-made. By the end of 1956 it had built more than 240,000 Vespas and 4,000 Ape three-wheelers.1 When the car arrived, Automobilia says, the works employed about 2,000 people and made 250 scooters a day, and the dealer network had 1,200 agents; RM gives 260 a day and nearly 3,000 staff.13

The car was meant to fill a hole. In 1957 French sales of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds over 50 cc collapsed: the Algerian war kept young men in uniform, Suez brought fuel rationing, VAT went up twice, insurance was dear, and from 1 April 1958 a licence would be needed to ride a 125.1 It was French almost to the last part. Only the cast aluminium pistons, by Borgo, came from Italy; the body was made by Facel at Dreux, with a Solex carburettor, Ducellier ignition, a Paris-Rhône starter and dynamo, Auteroche lamps and Ronis locks.261

Out of hiding

Prototypes were built during 1956 and tested at night on the factory’s track and the roads around it, and apparently in Germany too.1 From the spring of 1957 ACMA’s press men lifted the veil a little at a time. L’Automobile ran two short items in May and June under the heading “La voiture 2 CV Vespa sort de la clandestinité”, the 2CV Vespa comes out of hiding, and that summer a big weekly caught a group of finished cars, still called V2, being run on quiet roads in the Forez. Automobilia wonders whether that was really a surprise.1

The press launch was on 26 September 1957. Where is disputed: Vuillaumier, ma-vespa-400.com and the club say the Pré Catelan restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris; RM and the English Wikipedia say Monaco.26738 The French Wikipedia has both, Paris first and then a showing to the press at Monte Carlo, and says the first three cars wore the colours of the flag.9 Automobilia names Behra and Fangio as the car’s sponsors, and RM adds Louis Chiron.13 At the 44th Paris Salon, from 3 to 13 October 1957, ACMA took stand 37 as a new car maker, and the little car was the star of the show.132 The Tourisme cost 345,000 F and the Luxe 365,000 F, by Vuillaumier’s figures; Automobilia gives 360,000 and 380,000 F. The engine was guaranteed for 50,000 km.291

A thoroughbred 2CV

Une « 2 CV racée » aussi agréable pour le travail et les voyages, que pour les courses en ville d’une femme élégante.

ACMA’s 1958 brochure, reproduced in Automobilia no. 34. In English: “A ‘thoroughbred 2CV’, as pleasant for work and travel as for an elegant woman’s shopping in town.”1

It was a clever piece of engineering. The steel shell was held together by 3,000 spot welds, every wheel was independently sprung, and the twin at the back breathed through a rotary valve.18 There was no boot in the nose; the empty space gave the occupants leg room, and behind the false grille the battery and the brake reservoir sat on a drawer that slid out. The spare wheel lived under the passenger seat, which folded completely flat to reach it or to carry something bulky, and hot air from the engine’s cooling turbine could be turned into the cabin as a heater.18 The roof was fabric and rolled back, and the two doors were hinged at the rear; Automobilia notes that they open, unfortunately, the wrong way.15 Behind the two seats was room for luggage or, at a pinch, a child.1 Even the horn had two tones, one for town and one for the open road, and the town one, ma-vespa-400.com says, was more a comic toy than a real tool.6

The testers of the specialist magazines, Automobilia says, agreed that it did not lack qualities: it was lively, comfortable, held the road well and was pleasant to drive. Against it they set the three-speed gearbox, doubtful sealing, a fiddly roof and door bottoms that scraped the kerb when parked.1 A scooter magazine’s long-term test went further.

… une tenue de route étonnante et à un comportement pouvant être qualifié de sportif.

An unnamed scooter magazine’s long-term test, late 1950s, as quoted in Automobilia no. 34. In English: “… astonishing roadholding and behaviour that could be called sporting.”1

It had its faults. Changing down into first, at 10 to 15 km/h, needed a double declutch. It drank 6 litres of mixture per 100 km driven gently and up to 8 pressed, where the Citroën 2CV used 5.7 and the Renault 4CV 7.2, and both of those had four real seats; and its price was not far below theirs.18 The fuel was a two-stroke mix of 2 per cent oil, and at first owners mixed it themselves. RM says ACMA feared careless 20:1 fill-ups at the pump.13 In July 1958 a hand-cranked mixer arrived, to be refilled every 200 km: after filling up, the driver turned the crank once for every litre of petrol taken on.12

Year by year

1958 was the peak, with 12,130 cars built.68 The seats were padded to the top, and the smooth chromed bumpers gave way to ribbed stainless ones.2 The English Wikipedia, citing Automobilia’s annual, says the basic car was cut from 345,000 F to 319,500 F by October 1958.8 For 1959 came the much-requested sliding windows, indicators on the front wings, wrap-round bumpers, an aluminium cooling turbine and the Type II engine, with new heads and more power, 14 hp in place of 12.2 In April 1959 three Vespa 400s went with Georges Monneret, riding a Vespa 150 scooter, on his raid from Algiers to Hassi Messaoud. Vespa 400s also worked the fairground wall of death, with their suspension reinforced against the force of the ride.1

The advertising tried everything. In May 1959 ACMA billed it as the cheapest French car, and offered any Vespa scooter owner a trade-in towards one; in 1960 it sold it to women.1

Vespa 400, la voiture idéale pour la femme… racée, nerveuse, rapide, économique, elle se faufile, se gare incroyablement.

ACMA advertisement, 1960, reproduced in Automobilia no. 34. In English: “Vespa 400, the ideal car for a woman… thoroughbred, lively, fast, economical; it slips through traffic and parks incredibly.”1

America got its own version, with big sealed-beam headlamps; RM counts 514 sold there in 1959 and 1,138 in 1960, at two-thirds the cost of a Volkswagen.3 At the Paris Salon of October 1960 ACMA showed the Luxe 61 at 3,550 new francs and a Grand Tourisme, with four speeds, an automatic oil mixer, whitewall tyres and more chrome.21 The French Wikipedia adds about ten Esterel beach cars by the coachbuilder Pichon-Parat of Sens, open, with seats of rattan or plastic cord and a sun awning, on the standard mechanicals.9

The end of ACMA

The works had been planned for 200 cars a day. Even in 1958 it never built more than about 50.12 By the end of 1959, Automobilia says, the failure was plain to see, and it gives the reasons: a two-stroke engine with oil to be mixed, which French buyers had always disliked; a thirst out of proportion to its size; and a price barely below those of its formidable rivals from Citroën and Renault.1 The site ma-vespa-400.com thinks it would have done better with a real dealer network behind it.6 In 1961 only 1,849 were built, fewer than 200 of them GTs and about 60 with right-hand drive, and production ended that year.21 ACMA’s workshops closed for good on 31 December 1962, and Simca Industries took over the plant.291

Durant toute sa courte carrière, la Vespa 400 est certes la plus petite, mais non la moins élégante des voitures françaises.

Jean Goyard, Automobilia no. 34, February 1999. In English: “Throughout its short career the Vespa 400 was certainly the smallest, but not the least elegant, of French cars.”1
Yellow small car with its door swung open on a show stand, pale seats and a white steering wheel inside.
A yellow 1959 Vespa 400 with its rear-hinged door open, showing the seats, at a show in 2008.Photo: Kev, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Open rear compartment of a pale blue car with a small engine, cooling fan housing and red ignition leads.
The engine compartment of a pale blue Vespa 400 with the rear lid raised, showing the twin and its cooling turbine.Photo: Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
Black and white photograph of two sailors in white uniforms beside an open doorless car with a fringed canopy and Paris plate.
Plate I · c. 1960 US Navy sailors look over a Vespa 400 beach car on Paris plates at Cannes, about 1960.Photo: U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Red small two-door car side-on on a lawn, with white-wall tyres and evergreen trees behind.
A red Vespa 400 with whitewall tyres on the lawn at the Stan Hywet Hall concours, Akron, Ohio, in 2014.Photo: Phil Kalina, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Pictures

More photographs, old and new

The car 32

  • Pale blue small car with a black number plate and rally plaque, parked on gravel before a wire fence and shrubs. Opens a larger view

    1 A pale blue 1958 Vespa 400 at an outdoor gathering in 2021.

  • Blue small car with whitewall tyres and a blue sun visor, parked by a brick wall, a red car at its side. Opens a larger view

    2 A blue 1959 Vespa 400 from the front in 2008, with a tinted sun visor over the windscreen.

  • Pale grey small car on a concrete floor in front of old Renault and Vauxhall signs, a blue car beside it. Opens a larger view

    3 A silver-grey 1959 Vespa 400 in a museum in 2006.

  • Bright orange small car with chrome bumpers on a stained concrete floor among other classic cars. Opens a larger view

    4 An orange 1960 Vespa 400 at a show in 2016.

  • Pale blue small car with front-wing indicators and press cuttings in its window, parked on grass by a red car. Opens a larger view

    5 A pale blue later Vespa 400, plate VA 400, at a meeting in Germany.

27 more picturesFewer pictures
  • Pale blue small car parked on a grassy verge beside a covered car, a camper van in the distance. Opens a larger view

    6 A pale blue Vespa 400 on the Tour de Bretagne in 2024.

  • Pale blue small car with Vespa 400 script on its nose and a for-sale card in the window, parked on brick paving. Opens a larger view

    7 A pale blue Vespa 400 at a meeting in 2016, from the front left.

  • Mint green small rounded car with large round headlamps and a chrome bumper on grass, spectators standing round it. Opens a larger view

    8 A pale green Vespa 400 with its door open at the AACA Fall Meet, Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 2010.

  • Mint green small car with a Belgian plate on a red carpet, a microcar mural and a two-tone bubble car behind. Opens a larger view

    9 A green Vespa 400 at InterClassics Brussels in 2024.

  • Red small two-door car in profile on a white circular platform in an exhibition hall. Opens a larger view

    10 A red Vespa 400 on a turntable at the Paris motor show in 2004.

  • Blue small car with whitewall tyres and a chrome rack on its tail, parked among other cars with people walking by. Opens a larger view

    11 A blue 1959 Vespa 400 with its roof rolled back and a luggage rack over the engine, in 2008.

  • Rear of a pale blue small car with a black roof and louvred engine lid on a verge, a red saloon behind. Opens a larger view

    12 A blue Vespa 400 from the rear on the Tour de Bretagne, France, in 2024, its black fabric roof closed.

  • Pale blue small car seen from the rear, roof rolled back and a suitcase strapped to the rack over its engine lid. Opens a larger view

    13 A light blue Vespa 400 with a luggage rack at the Semaine Italienne in Montreal in 2010.

  • Rear of a cream small car with a dark green fabric roof and red tail lamps, a motorcycle and gazebos behind. Opens a larger view

    14 The white 1960 Vespa 400 from the rear at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs in 2019, its louvred engine lid on show.

  • Front of a pale blue small car with two round headlamps and plate 3044 IE 51 between parked cars. Opens a larger view

    15 A pale blue 1958 Vespa 400 head-on in the Musée Automobile Reims Champagne in 2010.

  • Front of a pale blue small car with a Portuguese plate, a brown tarpaulin-covered car and green van behind. Opens a larger view

    16 A pale blue Vespa 400 head-on in the Museu do Automóvel de Famalicão, Portugal, in 2019.

  • Front of a glossy red small car with round headlamps, a P badge on the nose and a black rope barrier in front. Opens a larger view

    17 A red 1959 Vespa 400 head-on in a museum, on German plates HH-YS 400.

  • Cream small car with round headlamps and plate 211 FX 71, parked on gravel under chestnut trees. Opens a larger view

    18 A white 1960 Vespa 400 at a show in Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, France, in 2019.

  • Mint green small car with plate BQ-246-JR on a road beside a stone wall and wooden picnic table. Opens a larger view

    19 A pale green Vespa 400 on the move in the harvest-festival parade at Provins in 2012.

  • Pale blue small car with orange side indicators on gravel, a red saloon and a white bubble car close by. Opens a larger view

    20 A pale blue 1958 Vespa 400 in the Musée Automobile Reims Champagne in 2011.

  • Cream small car with a black waistline stripe on a red tiled floor, a yellow open car beside it. Opens a larger view

    21 A cream 1958 Vespa 400 with red interior in the Lane Motor Museum, Nashville, in 2024.

  • Cream small car spotlit in a dark museum gallery, a placard on the floor in front of it. Opens a larger view

    22 A cream 1958 Vespa 400 in the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, Turin, in 2015.

  • White small car behind a rope barrier with a glass placard reading VESPA 400 ACMA, 2 cyl., 393 cm3. Opens a larger view

    23 A white 1958 ACMA Vespa 400 at the Manoir de l’Automobile, Lohéac, in 2022.

  • Rust-streaked small car in a mock barn with straw and a stuffed marten in its front grille opening. Opens a larger view

    24 A rusty barn-find Vespa 400 in the barn diorama of the Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim, 2012.

  • Pale green small car on a steel rack behind railings, a TRAVEE A bay sign in front of its windscreen. Opens a larger view

    25 A green Vespa 400 on a storage rack in the reserve store of the Musée des arts et métiers, Saint-Denis, in 2010.

  • Orange small car and a dark red Renault 4CV side by side behind a rope, each with a placard in front. Opens a larger view

    26 An orange Vespa 400 beside a Renault 4CV in the Museu Nacional de l’Automòbil, Encamp, Andorra, in 2021.

  • Faded orange small car with a doll in its window, among arcade machines, plants and veteran cars. Opens a larger view

    27 An orange Vespa 400 in a museum display in 2015.

  • Cream small car parked in a cluttered workshop with old road maps and tools on the walls. Opens a larger view

    28 A white Vespa 400 in a museum workshop setting in 2024.

  • White small car seen from below on a raised deck, against a wall of old red and white Belgian number plates. Opens a larger view

    29 A white 1959 Vespa 400 on display at Autoworld, Brussels, in 2021.

  • Red three-wheeled roadster with its hood folded open at left, a mint green small car with whitewall tyres parked to its right. Opens a larger view

    30 A green 1958 Vespa 400 parked beside a red Messerschmitt KR201 at a meeting in Germany in 2018.

  • Rear of a red small car with yellow plate 576 EY 80 and its fabric roof rolled forward, crowds behind. Opens a larger view

    31 A red Vespa 400 from behind at Techno-Classica, Essen, in 2012, its roof rolled back.

  • Glossy red small car with plate 576 EY 80 and a sale sheet in its windscreen, on a black show carpet. Opens a larger view

    32 A red Vespa 400 at Techno-Classica, Essen, in 2012.

Inside and details 8

  • Looking down into a pale blue car interior: two grey seats, a central tunnel with levers and a white steering wheel. Opens a larger view

    33 Inside a pale blue Vespa 400, with its two front seats, tunnel-mounted levers and parcel area behind.

  • Painted pale green dashboard with a large thin two-spoke steering wheel, a round speedometer and a parcel shelf. Opens a larger view

    34 The dashboard of a green 1958 Vespa 400, with its two-spoke wheel and central speedometer.

  • Worn white painted dashboard with a grey steering wheel and round speedometer, a dirty bare floor below. Opens a larger view

    35 The dashboard and floor of an unrestored white Vespa 400, with the gear lever on the central tunnel.

  • Pale blue small car with its rear lid propped open over the engine, people gathered beside it. Opens a larger view

    36 A pale blue Vespa 400 with its engine lid raised at a meeting in Bailly, France, in 2011.

  • Clean engine bay with a silver finned fan housing, drive belt, black ignition coils and a fuel tank at the left. Opens a larger view

    37 The engine of a pale blue Vespa 400: the twin, its turbine housing and carburettor.

  • Grimy engine compartment with a rusty pulley and belt, a black fan housing and a fuel tank at the left. Opens a larger view

    38 The engine bay of an unrestored white Vespa 400, with its twin, cooling fan housing and dynastart.

  • Chrome Vespa 400 script on pale blue paint beside a louvred panel and red tail lamp. Opens a larger view

    39 The Vespa 400 script on the engine lid of a Vespa 400 on the Tour de Bretagne, France, in 2024.

  • Top-down view of a white small car with its fabric roof folded at the back, showing two seats and the luggage shelf. Opens a larger view

    40 A white 1960 Vespa 400 seen from above with its canvas roof rolled back over the engine lid.

Variants and relatives 2

  • Pale blue small car with a chrome-barred grille, Ape service lettering on its door and a roof rack, on a lawn under a beer umbrella. Opens a larger view

    41 A pale blue Vespa 400 fitted with Ardor accessories and Ape Assistenza Tecnica lettering, photographed in 2017.

  • Small red car with yellow and orange flames painted over its nose, parked in a barn beside a wire fence. Opens a larger view

    42 A Vespa 400 with hot-rod flame paint at the Pioneer Auto Show, Murdo, South Dakota, in 2009.

Picture credits (42)
  1. 1 Alexandre Prévot, CC BY-SA 2.0
  2. 2 Detectandpreserve, CC BY-SA 3.0
  3. 3 Asterion, CC BY 2.5
  4. 4 Wleiter, CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. 5 KarleHorn, CC BY-SA 4.0
  6. 6 Kev22, CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  8. 8 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0
  9. 9 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  10. 10 Cars en travel, CC BY-SA 3.0
  11. 11 Detectandpreserve, CC BY-SA 3.0
  12. 12 Kev22, CC BY-SA 4.0
  13. 13 abdallahh, CC BY 2.0
  14. 14 crash71100, CC0 1.0
  15. 15 Alf van Beem, CC0
  16. 16 Joseolgon, CC BY-SA 4.0
  17. 17 Dustin May, CC BY-SA 2.0
  18. 18 crash71100, CC0 1.0
  19. 19 Ancalagon, CC BY-SA 3.0
  20. 20 Croquant, CC BY-SA 3.0
  21. 21 TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0
  22. 22 Rahil Rupawala, CC BY 2.0
  23. 23 Koreller, CC BY-SA 4.0
  24. 24 Technik Museum Sinsheim und Speyer, CC BY 2.0
  25. 25 dalbera, CC BY 2.0
  26. 26 Chatsam, CC BY-SA 3.0
  27. 27 Rhbrakman, CC BY-SA 4.0
  28. 28 Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0
  29. 29 Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0
  30. 30 BlueBreezeWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0
  31. 31 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  32. 32 Andrew Bone, CC BY 2.0
  33. 33 KarleHorn, CC BY 3.0
  34. 34 BlueBreezeWiki, CC BY-SA 3.0
  35. 35 JeDi, Public domain
  36. 36 Lebubu93, CC BY-SA 3.0
  37. 37 KarleHorn, CC BY 3.0
  38. 38 JeDi, Public domain
  39. 39 Kev22, CC BY-SA 4.0
  40. 40 hell0094, CC BY 2.0
  41. 41 Marco Cantarutti, CC BY-SA 4.0
  42. 42 JOHN LLOYD, CC BY 2.0

Variants

Saloons, a GT and a beach car

The Vespa 400 family
VariantYearsWhat differsHow many
Tourisme1957–⁠61The basic saloon, with the roll-back roofWithin the total
Luxe1957–⁠61More instruments, two wipers and more brightwork; the one most bought, by a 1959 German testWithin the total
Type II1959–⁠61Sliding windows, wrap-round bumpers, indicators on the wings, an aluminium turbine, 14 hpWithin the total
GT1960–⁠61Four speeds, an automatic oil mixer, whitewall tyres and extra chrome; shown in October 1960Fewer than 200
US export1959–⁠61Large sealed-beam headlamps514 in 1959 and 1,138 in 1960, by RM
Right-hand drive1961Wheel on the rightAbout 60
Esterel1959–⁠61Open beach car by Pichon-Parat of Sens; rattan or cord seats, a sun awningAbout 10, by the French Wikipedia

Specification

From the 1958 brochure, as reproduced by Automobilia, unless noted

Engine and drive

EngineTwo-stroke parallel twin, at the rear, inclined 20° to the left, cooled by a turbine; rotary-valve induction16
Capacity393 cc (63 × 63 mm)16394 cc in some sources
Power12 hp DIN at 4,350 rpm, or 14 hp SAE614 hp at 4,350 rpm for the 1959 Type II; the sources mix the two bases
Compression6.4:1; 6.8:1 from 19592
FuelPetrol with 2 per cent oil; a crank mixer from July 1958, an automatic one from 196013
GearboxThree speeds and reverse, second and third synchronised; double-declutch into first18Four speeds on the GT
StarterParis-Rhône electric, worked by a lever between the seats82

Body and chassis

BodySteel monocoque with 3,000 spot welds; a roll-back fabric roof18
Front suspensionIndependent: pivoting telescopic dampers carry the stub axles, with a torsion bar on pressed-steel arms1
Rear suspensionIndependent: pressed-steel wishbones, dampers with concentric springs1
BrakesHydraulic drums, 170 mm across1
SteeringRack and pinion, mounted high under the bonnet19
Electrics and tyres12 V, the battery on a drawer behind the grille; 4.00 × 10, 4.40 × 10 from 195912

Dimensions

Length2,850 mm182,835 mm by the Weiner museum
Width1,270 mm86
Height1,250 mm16
Wheelbase1,693 mm18
Track1,100 mm front and rear19
Weight360 kg (794 lb)15380 kg in two sources

Performance and running

Top speed51.8 mph (83.4 km/h), by The Motor, 19598As reported by the English Wikipedia; Automobilia says it flirted with 100 km/h
Acceleration0–40 mph in 23.0 s, by the same test8
Consumption6 l/100 km driven gently, up to 8 pressed155.3 mpg by The Motor; under 5 l at 60–70 km/h by the maker
Fuel tank23 litres, for about 450 km16
Price new345,000 F Tourisme, 365,000 F Luxe, October 195729360,000 and 380,000 F by Automobilia

How many were built?

Every figure, with its source

About 30,000 built30,976, credited to L’Argus de l’Automobile, comes with a figure for every year, and two of those years are confirmed by Automobilia’s annuals. Jacques Vuillaumier counts 29,873.

  1. 30,9761957–⁠61One source

    ma-vespa-400.com, credited to L’Argus de l’Automobile; the French Wikipedia repeats it69

  2. 29,8731957–⁠61One source

    Jacques Vuillaumier, capaction2

  3. 28,000in allOne source

    Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum and RM, one collection43

  4. 12,130built in 1958, the peak yearTwo sources agree

    L’Argus, via ma-vespa-400.com; Automobilia’s 1959 annual, via the English Wikipedia68

  5. 8,717built in 1959Two sources agree

    the same two68

  6. 7,177built in 1960One source

    L’Argus, via ma-vespa-400.com6

  7. 1,849built in 1961Two sources agree

    L’Argus, via ma-vespa-400.com; Vuillaumier62

  8. 1,103built in 1957One source

    L’Argus, via ma-vespa-400.com6

  • Two sources agreetwo good sources give the figure
  • One sourcea good source, alone
  • Unconfirmeda lead only, not yet checked

Famous for

Three points

  1. A drawer in the nose

    The battery and brake reservoir slid out on a drawer behind the false grille.

  2. One turn per litre

    From July 1958 the driver cranked the oil mixer once for every litre of petrol.

  3. Paris to Moscow

    7,319 km there and back in 1958, observed by the FFSA, without a repair.

Racing and records

Endurance and rallies

62km/h · 7,319 km

From 18 August to 7 September 1958 Raymond Miomandre and René Pari drove a Vespa 400, fitted with two fog lamps and a radio, from Paris to Moscow and back: out in ten stages through Cologne, Berlin, Warsaw and Minsk, two weeks in Moscow, and home in twelve through Smolensk, Minsk, Warsaw, Prague, Milan and Geneva. Paul Massonet, technical adviser to the FFSA, followed in an escort car and signed its official report, no. 301, on 23 September (more in records and feats).1

7,319 km
covered (4,548 miles) without mechanical incident, repairs or changes of parts, by the report; the French Wikipedia gives 7,214 km.19
5.85 l
of mixture per 100 km over the whole run.1
3 cars
in the Monte Carlo Rally of January 1959. The French Wikipedia says they started from Stockholm, all three reached Monaco and one was classified (more in racing and rallying).19
57 km/h
average up the 21.6 km of Mont Ventoux, by Albisson’s car in the Rallye de Provence on 12 June 1960.1

Survivors and collecting

Today

No register count of survivors has been found. A French club for the car was founded in 1992, on the car’s 35th anniversary, and on 26 September 1992 it re-staged the Pré Catelan launch to the day, with more than 40 cars. It has taken part in the Coupes de l’Âge d’Or at Montlhéry and in Vespa Club de France events, and its history lists owners in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, the United States, Argentina, Venezuela, Singapore, Japan, Algeria, Mexico and Australia.7 Dinky Toys made a blue Vespa 400 in 1:43 scale.7

The Weiner museum’s 1957 car, blue, with the roll-back roof, cream wheels and a Cannes Motors dealer sticker, was sold by RM Auctions in 2013.3 The German Wikipedia, citing Classic Cars in 2011, reports a restoration project sold in the United States for $21,000 in 2009, and concours cars at up to $40,000.5

At auction
CarSalePrice
1957 Vespa 400, identification no. 06938, largely originalRM Auctions, Weiner museum sale, 2013, lot 6123$28,750
A restoration projectUnited States, 2009, as reported5$21,000

Sources

Numbered as in the text

No period French road test has been read in the original; Automobilia’s 1999 history, which reproduces the brochure, the advertisements and the covers, carries most of the story. Sources are given as plain text; the links are on the Credits page.

  1. Jean Goyard, “La Vespa 400 — la petite auto de Fourchambault”, Automobilia no. 34, February 1999, pp. 44–49, with the 1958 brochure, advertisements and magazine covers reproduced. Read in full.
  2. Jacques Vuillaumier, “Vespa 400 Histoire / history”, capaction, read in full.
  3. RM Auctions, The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, Madison, Georgia, 2013, lot 612, “1957 Piaggio Vespa 400”, catalogue text, read in full.
  4. Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum, “1957 Vespa 400”, tour page (© 2002), read in full.
  5. German Wikipedia, Vespa 400, read in full; it cites Robert Poensgen’s test in Der Kleinwagen 10/1959 and Classic Cars 7/2011, not seen.
  6. ma-vespa-400.com, “Caractéristiques techniques de la Vespa 400”, read in full; its production table is credited to L’Argus de l’Automobile.
  7. vespa400.com (Nicolas Courtonne), home page, with the club’s history.
  8. English Wikipedia, Vespa 400, read in full; it cites Automobilia’s Toutes les voitures françaises annuals for 1958 and 1959, and The Motor, 15 April 1959, not seen.
  9. French Wikipedia, Vespa 400, read in full.