The Vespa, the wasp-waisted scooter that put postwar Italians on wheels and went on to carry Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn through the streets of Rome, is returning to the capital this week to celebrate its 80th birthday.
Until tomorrow, Rome is hosting “Vespa Roma 2026 – 80 Years of an Icon”, a four-day gathering centred on the city’s Foro Italico and the Stadio dei Marmi, which has been turned into a Vespa Village of exhibitions, races, parades and club events.
Vespa enthusiasts from around the world gathered in Rome
The four days of celebrations began on Thursday with the inauguration of a “Vespa Village” at the Foro Italico, a sports complex in the north of the capital, and will culminate on Saturday with a grand parade through the streets of Rome.
More than 10,000 “Vespisti” from all over the globe are expected to turn up in the scooters, which are instantly recognisable because of their rounded lines, their brightly coloured metal bodywork and their round headlight mounted on the handlebars.
Vespa has been in continuous production for 80 years
Andrew Ward, 57, and his sister Julie Stover, 63, came from the United States and rented a Vespa in Rome to take part in the parade.
“We had scooters and motorcycles our whole lives. But I always wanted a Vespa and eventually we got Vespas. Now I have two!” Ward, a regular at “Vespisti” gatherings in his country, told AFP.
“It’s a high-quality scooter. And it comes with a certain status. It’s classy, you know. It’s not like the cheapy scooters that you see on the road all the time. Vespa is special,” Mr Stover added.
Vespa was launched in 1946
Launched in 1946 by Piaggio PIA.MI, the Vespa became a symbol of Italy’s rebirth after World War Two: cheap enough for a battered country, stylish enough to seduce the world, and practical enough to weave through the alleys of Naples, Milan and Rome.
It has since become one of Italy’s most recognisable design exports, appearing in films such as “Roman Holiday” with Peck and Hepburn, advertisements and holiday brochures.
Vespa has been in continuous production for 80 years, undergoing around 160 restyling updates and selling nearly 20 million units worldwide, including just over two million in the past decade.
Vespa is one of Italy’s most recognisable design exports
Today, the scooter is sold in approximately 100 countries, mainly across Europe and Southeast Asia, and is manufactured in three production plants in Italy, Vietnam, and India.
“It’s a legend,” said Franco Gaudino, 52, speaking to AFP as he took part in the Roman event with his club from La Louviere, in Belgium.
Illac Diaz, originally from the Philippines, said that “the nice thing about the Vespa is you bring friendship”.
“There’s no place where you park without people becoming friends. So Vespa is like a family,” said the 52-year-old, who has just bought a house in Trieste, in northern Italy, where he plans to acquire another Vespa as soon as possible.