ITALY 1947 – Birth of an icon
During World War II Ferdinando Innocenti ran a steel tubing factory in the Lambrate district of Milan in northern Italy, producing components for the Italian Air Force. After the war Innocenti needed to find a new product in order for his business to survive. Inspired by the Cushman scooters that the US army imported into Italy (as a means of conveying information from one division to another and to transport individual soldiers around the base), Innocenti realised he could apply most of the parts that the factory was already producing to motor scooter production.
