It must be pointed out here that the props of the film are too lacking in car knowledge! The street painter who frantically pursues the heroine said that his car was driven from Italy. This conforms to the logic of the plot development, but does not conform to the history of the car. That yellow car is indeed very similar to an Italian car. In fact, it was also designed by the Italian company Piaggio. The name of the Vespa 400 is also inherited from this company's motorcycle products. But the place of production is really in France! And this car has never been sold in Italy.
This car was designed in the mid-1950s, almost at the same time as the Fiat 500. In order to avoid competition from the Italian car tycoons to obstruct the mini-car project, Piaggio had to put it into production in France and sell it to the Fiat 500 that did not compete. Regions, including the United States. According to data that cannot be confirmed for authenticity, a total of 28,000 Vespa 400 vehicles were produced at the factory in Fourchambeau, France, of which 1,600 were shipped to the United States for sale at a price of US$1080 at the time.
Although the performance in the film is quite exciting, but in fact the performance of this car is very mediocre. The 393 cc, two-cylinder, two-stroke air-cooled engine has only 18 horsepower. The version sold in the United States has only a 3-speed gearbox, while models in other regions have four gears. Test data from a French magazine in 1959 showed that it took 23 seconds for the car to accelerate from a standstill to 64 km/h, and the top speed was only 83 km/h.
Perhaps the movie should choose other miniature cars, such as Autobianchi Bianchina, which looks almost the same as the Vespa 400. Before being annexed by Fiat, this company was the fourth-largest auto manufacturer in Italy in terms of production. Fiat has put some of the fresher technologies on Autobianchi cars for testing, and will use them after further maturity. Bianchina is based on Fiat 500, but provides some more advanced configurations, and the price is more expensive than Fiat.
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