ABSTRACT
The last chapter highlights the global standing of the Vespa. From the late 1940s onward, Enrico Piaggio made direct investments abroad to circumvent the customs barriers that were hindering exports. He entered into licensing agreements with pre-existing foreign groups or created new subsidiary companies. Regardless of the commercial structure, he guaranteed all the assistance needed to translate his original patent into a product, thus granting Piaggio a transnational network. Like a sort of prism, the Vespa refracted the knowledge and technologies developed in Tuscany and disseminated them throughout the world. How did this globalization actually occur? Who were the actors engaged in this translation? What were the implications of the encounters among different cultures? The chapter explores these questions by following the vicissitudes of the Vespa in Bristol (UK) and Bombay (India).
