The three wheeler cars that buzz around our villages are a modern version of the donkey which until 50 years ago was Italy’s beast of burden. But when Piaggio created this spin off of the Vespa (wasp) scooter in 1948 there was no turning back.
The Ape (bee, for its engine’s sound) models run from the fancy Calesse model with wicker seats that film stars used to zoom around the narrow lanes of Capri, Ischia and Portofino in the 1960s, to those rustic beasts of burden used by farmers and artisans to haul (small portable tanks) everything from hay bales to gas bombole. 
There are more than 2 million Ape in use in Europe alone and the streets of Mumbai and Bangkok are flooded with them, although their true home are Italian country roads. The reasons for its success? The Ape is economical to operate, can be driven without a license, and they can be decorated, personalized and in a pinch two can ride up front with space in the back for cargo.
-- Contributed by Mary Jane (see bio), author, historian cruise ship lecturer, and founder of Elegant Etruria, www.elegantetruria.com, a window on life in central Italy.
May 14th, 2010 at 11:12 am
I love this post. I have always been
fascinated with the Ape, especially
when you see some of the biggest men in them :-)
I didn’t know they could be driven without a license!!
May 14th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I still remember the first time I saw these cute little trucks in Italy! Thanks for the post about these modern day “beasts of burden” But I must say we still saw donkeys used as beasts of burden in some of the small towns above the Amalfi Coast!
May 14th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
The reason Ape’s can be driven without a license is because they are not considered cars, but motorcycles. In fact, they have a 2-cycle engine and they don’t have a steering wheel, but a regular handle-bar with the gas on right, and the clutch & gear-shifting mechanism on the left.
They are extremely popular with farmers.
May 14th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I have been thinking for a long time that this might just be the vehicle for me! Now Mary Jane’s note has encouraged me to go and try out my neighbour’s ape and see if I can make it go!! thanks may Jane!
May 14th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Thanks to the Almighty, the Italian Ingenuity in every field, has and continues to deliver simple and extremely useful tools and methodology the world over,continuing with the same spirit Dante and others before him set the tone in literature.Whatever the field,without forgetting the different Cuisines that are being used and abused the world over, We aren,t doing that bad? Are we?Viva l”Italia!!!
May 14th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I want one!!
May 14th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
They are fun to ride in. I jumped into one a few years ago in Terra Dura the town of my grandmother.
May 14th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Hello Frank….You and I are just right for the ‘Ape’ can’t you just see us ….up and down the mountainsides of our wonderful frazioni.
what a way to complete our days. And for all the other readers, you would enjoy them also! La vita è in Italia
May 14th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
This is one of my favorite Notes! My father-in-law has a green Ape just like the one in the photo – it’s gotta be over 30 years old & still runs great. Thanks for a smile & wonderful memory.
May 14th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
A few years ago my wife and I were motoring a backroad to Bellagio when out of nowhere from a side road zoomed an old man on a hay-laden Vespa. He zigged, I zagged, we both cursed, and at that moment a little-known feature of the Vespa saved us from disaster: In skillful old hands the beast can actually turn tight corners on two wheels without spilling hay.
May 14th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I love these “little” things. Do they sell them in the US? I think they are very functional but as I seem to remember you can hear them for blocks. Hmmmm, maybe not so good.
May 14th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
interested in seeing and test driving the “ape” in the ny, usa area.
any suggestions?
May 14th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
I used to muse about getting a Vespa (WASP) with a sidecart to transport my goose Melina and and me around town (Melina enjoyed rides in the countryside when I had my VW BUG, trumpeting out the window at whatever or whomever interested her), I now think I’ll upgrade from a BUG to a BEE and away we’ll fly into the blue. Thank you for the article!
May 15th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
How funny…in Thailand they are called Tuk Tuk’s after the sound that the tiny diesel engine makes. I have wonderful memories of a night spent with a beautiful stranger weaving through Banckok traffic at 3:00am. Totally magical but I’m sure in the states a Tuk Tuk wouldn’t crash test well against a Suburban so we’ll never see them here…too bad.