I lived in Japan in the late 50s and vehicles like this were very common. I was 12 years old when I first saw them and I thought they were pretty cool. Now I'm 58 and I still think they're pretty cool.

Ape" 50 years on three wheels

As in the case of the Vespa, observing the day to day needs of the world around them led Enrico Piaggio and Corradino D'Ascanio to sense the potential of their new product. And from a "rib" of the Vespa was born the Ape, which Piaggio began selling in 1948. "This motorcycle van is bound to be a great success" wrote the magazine Motociclismo wrote." It's a highly modern vehicle with extremely low cost and fuel consumption and easily within the reach of the smallest of companies. But it has been conceived without false economy and according to very rational criteria, as regards both its functionality and its construction."

thanks to Travellers Diagram