More than 10,000 Vespas putt-putt-putted around the Colosseum and past the Roman Forum on Saturday, marking the 80th anniversary of the iconic scooter. Enthusiasts came from all over, with the AP speaking to people from across Europe, San Francisco, Australia’s Gold Coast, the Philippines, and more. Vespa-carried visitors converged on the Eternal City’s cobblestone streets to celebrate a brand they likewise view as timeless. “The passion for Vespa is for the Italian style, freedom, the ’60s,” says Natalie Dunand, a retiree from France. “I love it.”
Made world-famous by the film Roman Holiday in 1953, when Gregory Peck gave Audrey Hepburn a romantic lift through Rome’s center, Vespas have since featured in other movies, including The Talented Mr. Ripley and, more recently, the animated Luca. With curved lines evoking a bygone era, plus an ability to produce smiles among onlookers, Vespa—which means “wasp” in Italian—is to two-wheeled transport what the Volkswagen Beetle is to cars. Its invention was a bit of chance as Italy rebuilt from the rubble after World War II.
Piaggio, a major aircraft manufacturer that saw its Pontedera factory destroyed by bombings, had to change gears. Downshifting considerably, Piaggio started churning out scooters. Women were among the initial target clients, per Piaggio’s Davide Zanolini, since they could ride them while wearing long skirts and without showing their legs. That’s reflected in the Vespa’s design. “The shape, the elegance. This very charming attitude of Vespa is much more of a lady than a man,” Zanolini said. That little two-wheeler helped kick-start Italy’s economy, and soon enough they were everywhere.
An AP article from 1950 said that Vespas had become so prevalent that their “staccato exhaust racket” had downtown Rome sounding like the Indy 500. “There probably isn’t a noisier scooter in all the world,” it said. Piaggio has sold about 20 million Vespas worldwide since 1946, and today it sells in 110 countries, Zanolini said. In the US, they’re popular in Florida and California and gaining traction in some other places like Austin, Texas, though it’s still a niche product in America, Zanolini noted.
