The Vespisti invaded Rome last week, and if you don’t know what a Vespisti is, that might sound alarming. Don’t worry. It is not a gang of Italian warriors. A Vespisti is a Vespa owner, and to celebrate 80 years of the cutest scooter on two wheels, around 25,000 of them from 67 countries paraded through Rome.
Demaras Racing’s star driver Daniel had just returned from his own European tour, showing off pictures from Rome including the Colosseum, famous piazzas, and those ancient streets that look like they were designed by people who never imagined American pickup trucks. One thing he noticed right away was that Vespas are still everywhere. Some think of the Ferrari as the most-Italian of vehicles—but it’s really the Vespa.
The anniversary rally brought together more than 160 Vespa models produced over the last eight decades. Some riders even brought rare Vespa 98s, the first production model from 1946, powered by a 98cc, two-stroke, single-cylinder engine. That would have given old Rome a proper buzz. After WWII, Italy needed affordable transportation and the Piaggio aircraft factory needed a new product. In 1946, the Vespa 98, Italian for wasp, was released to the public and Italy embraced it.
The parade followed a route worthy of a movie poster, rolling from the Terme di Caracalla to the Colosseum, then on to Piazza Venezia, the Altare della Patria, and the Fori Imperiali before returning to Vespa Village at Foro Italico. It was a little like Roman Holiday, except Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were replaced by enough scooters to make the city sound like the Indy 500 for small appliances.
Daniel also pointed out that modern Vespas are not the smoky little noise machines people remember from the old days. The two-stroke racket has mostly given way to cleaner, calmer four-stroke engines, so Rome is no longer drowning in blue smoke and lawnmower symphonies.
But the charm is still there. The sound has changed, the engines have changed, and the world has changed. Somehow, the Vespa still looks exactly like it belongs in Rome, parked beside a café, leaning under a streetlamp, or buzzing past the Colosseum like it has been doing it forever.