Vespa Scooters

ACMA Scooters

A Brief History of the Marque
Manufactured from 1951 to 1962

La société A.C.M.A. (Ateliers de Construction de Motocycles et Accessoires), a firm established by a group of investors led by Prince Marc de Beauva-Craon, produced 123cc, 147cc & 173cc Vespas under license in Fourchambault, near Niàvre, converting a large abandoned SNCAC aviation factory for the purposes. Piaggio provided a good many Italian engineers as advisers whilst the workshops and assembly lines were being created.

Initially they sold Italian-built machines. Manufacture of the ACMA scooters commenced in 1951 and by 1954 they had produced 150 thousand machines. Production continued until 1962 when falling sales of scooters, and of the Vespa 400 microcars which they also produced, caused the closure of the small factory with devasting impact on Fourchambault. The company at its peak employed some 2800 people, and the population of the town was just a little over six thousand. The factory site was purchased by SIMCA.

The major difference between the French and Italian scooters was the location of the headlamp which had been moved to the steering head on the production ACMA models. The Vespa headlights at that time were located on the front mudguard.

The Vespa 400 microcar was presented in Monaco in September 1957, a two-seater with space for two small children. The story goes that it was produced in France as Fiat had threatened to begin production of scooters in retaliation if the Vespa microcars were built in Italy, which would have been a massive blow. Some 30,000 units were produced at the Fourchambault works from 1957 to 1961.

Sources: Tragatsch, Wikipedia, H&H Classic Auctions, plane-encyclopedia.com.

Thu Jul 02 2009
apejack99 at yahoodot com
Vespa Acma
How do I find out the year and engine size of my ACMA? I think it's a '56.
Where are the numbers on the engine/frame?
Where to get parts? thanks
San Jose, California, USA

Serial Numbers: Engine Numbers and Frame Numbers



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