Brought onto the market by Piaggio in 1948 as a lightweight & cheap small commercial vehicle suited to light delivery duties, it was an adaptation of their Vespa scooter. 

Steered using handlebars & retaining most of the vespa scooters controls, the Ape was easily driven by all.  Its name is derived from the Italian word for bee, no doubt due to its small size, manoeuvrability, and of course distinctive 2-stroke engine sound.

Still produced today by Piaggio in India & very popular throughout Asia, it can still be seen delivering goods on the narrow streets of Italian cities.

Little is known of this Apes early history, but an Italian Certificato di Proprieta or registration document, indicates that in 2012, it was registered to Simone Benasi of Verona in Northern Italy.

Subsequently imported into the UK by a Scooter dealer based in London, it was spotted by the vendor and quickly whisked off to West Yorkshire in 2014.

Restoration was put into the experienced hands of IK Classics in Holmfirth, where a complete strip down was undertaken, and the search started for elusive missing or worn-out parts & bodywork.

A ground up rebuild ensued and the glorious car you see today, emerged from their workshops in 2017. Intended as an advertising tool by the vendor, it has in fact only been out of his garage and driven on one occasion since, and that was for a quick spin around the block before being tucked away again in his clean and dry garage.

There is a V5c in the vendors name, along with the aforementioned Italian registration document. There are a number of receipts available for work & parts, along with photos of the restoration works as they progressed.

There is also a dating certificate from The Vespa Club of Britain stating a manufacturing date of 1965.

All of the interior has been painted to match the exterior, there is what is believed to be a new old stock Veglia speedo, the bench seat has been rebuilt & upholstered.

Photos here speak much louder than words, but it’s as immaculate as it could be with everything working as it should and possibly better than it did when it first rolled off of the production line.

The same goes for the exterior, made to look as good as it possibly could, whilst trying to retain as many original parts & panels that were salvageable. Yes, there’s still one or two bangs & dents below that fabulous grey paint, its original colour we might add, but they tell this Apes story which would be lost without them.

Every nut and bolt has been gone through and probably replaced, the engine has been fully rebuilt, as has the suspension along with the breaks which have also been overhauled. 

This Ape must really be one of the best restorations you could find and with careful running in, should give hours of reliable service.

Well, we’ve touched on this already but what a toy, pick-up ( could be converted to a van, ), commercial buggy, classic car show star, it could be pretty much whatever you wanted it to be !

Multiple World Champion motorcycle grand prix racer Valentino Rossi , apparently grew up driving one of these around his home village in Italy, racing friends around the narrow streets…now there’s a thought…

Think out of the box and there’s fun to be had with this ‘60s Italian classic.