Com-Central.net

I came across this interesting pic and I'm really tempted to get ahold of a lot of sheet styrene and build the sucker in 1/35. So far, I just have the one photo, anyone know of any others or (by some miracle) three view drawings of the beastie? Almost sad it DIDN"T go into production, as it looks more at home in the David Lynch version of DUNE. Thanks for any thoughts, MK

Hallo, Blackjack.
There's not so much info about the Vespa, because, as you know already, it never reached mass production.

-> mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/...Tanks.html

"Autoblindata Vespa

The Vespa was a very unusual armored car with it's wheels arranged in a rhomboid pattern. It was developed by Caproni - the aircraft company, and presented for testing in early 1942. It was never produced in series. The Vespa had a 2 man crew and was armed with a 8mm MG for protection. The engine was rear mounted, had 8 cylinders, and developed 82hp. Top speed was 86kmh."


Marco

Thanks Marco, I guess....I was hoping that there might have been an Italian publication that may have attempted to get a set of three view drawings together from available sources, or more than one pic existed of the type from other angles. So far, there hasn't been much i came across on the web, although I'm sure many jaws would have dropped on the opponent's side if it entered series production.

Hi, Blackjack - to my knowledge, there's no such publication here devoted to experimental armoured cars like the Vespa, but I might be wrong, 'cause I'm more expert on aviation books, so don't give up.

The fact it was designed by the aircraft company Caproni doesn't help much.
A research with Caproni as keyword brings you to a different result, as you'll discover that an engineer there employed, Corradino D'Ascanio, invented and patented the helicopter in 1925, and later in 1946 the scooter called "Vespa".

In brackets, D'Ascanio was born in Popoli - a place some 35 kilometers from the place where I live

Excuse me if I cannot be of any help

Marco

Blackjack,

Sorry I don't have anymore stats/info on the Caproni-Vespa, but I do have another view... hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks Dave, that's a fantastic pic for sure. I came across a scratchbuilt model of the little beastie on Track-Link, here's a link to it below. Wish I could contact the builder and ask what references or drawings he may have come across. Regards, MK

Track-Link Vespa