All these scooters were iterations based on the Vespa PX and all of them were powered by a 150cc 2-stroke motor. In case something happened, simple technology meant that any roadside mechanic could mend them. According to the Vespa website, Vespas come in various forms, including the Primavera, Sprint, Elettrica, GTS, GTS Super, Sei Giorni, and the 946 Red.
Back in 2018, over 3,000 Vespa scooters from 37 countries took part in the Belfast event. As the event comes to a close each year, the winners of the Vespa Trophy are announced. This award goes to club members who spread the Vespa love by taking pictures and getting special stamps on their Travel Books at every stop along the way to the event.
Another perk of owning a Vespa is the flexibility it gives in terms of customization. Vespa allows you to create your own unique look by providing a wide variety of accessories to choose from. Change the color of the scooter to one you like, customize the seat to your liking, and modify the bike’s mirrors and grips to make it feel more personalized. Piaggio first licensed the production of Vespa scooters in India to Bajaj Auto in the 1960s.
In that year 1946, 2,484 were produced, but in 1950 there were more than 60,000 and the annual production in 1953 exceeded 170,000 units. Extraordinary numbers for a scooter that today is approaching 20 million models sold, produced in Pontedera but also in India and Vietnam. “Hundreds of thousands of swarms that buzzed” on the streets all over the world and which represented, especially in Italy, one of the most important symbols of the Economic Boom and of the so-called “welfare society”. Corradino D’Ascanio, designer of the very first Vespa, hated motorcycles and always wanted to design a car.
It was powered by a 393cc two-stroke engine that made 14 horsepower and over 30,000 copies were built. However, the arrival of the Austin Mini in 1959 effectively killed the market for the Vespa 400, as it did the so-called ‘bubble-car’ craze, as epitomized by various Heinkel and Messerschmitt models. Prices of the 150cc variants are yet to be revealed, but we expect them to follow the same structure as the 125cc variants, with a higher price tag due to the larger capacity engine, which offers a slight bump in performance over the 125.
- Interestingly, D’Ascanio had already been consulted by Fernando Innocenti about scooter design.
- Any ride with an engine with a capability above 250cc will be classified as a motorcycle.
- The Italian manufacturer has finally added modern features like a TFT screen, Bluetooth connectivity, and keyless ignition to its retro styled scooters with the updated 2025 lineup.
- Vespa offers total of 10 scooters of which 1 model is upcoming which include Electric Scooter.
- In 1999, after protracted dispute with Piaggio, LML bought back Piaggio’s stake in the company and the partnership ceased.
- Imported by Morton Colby of Colby General Tire Company, 662 East Fordham Road, Bronx, New York, the Sears models were 3- and 4-speed 125 cc Vespas rebadged as Sears Allstate Cruiseaires.
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All About Vespas (F.A.Q.)
Piaggio Group has 9 different brands of scooters and motorcycles under their umbrella, and the town has much of that assembly there, as well. Vespa introduced their first scooter all the way back in 1946, and one of the reasons why they are still in production is because of their time-honored reliability. Vespa scooters have stood the test of time, and this is one of the reasons why riders continue to love their scooters.
There aren’t many brands that have the confidence to keep their auto design largely unchanged for the best part of a century, but sometimes you just get it right the first time. The Vespa company was founded in 1946, the year that the very first model, the Vespa 98, debuted. It’s lucky, then, that while the wasp-esque design of the vehicle has changed very little, the technology powering it has come a very long way.
Ateliers de Construction de Motocycles et Automobiles introduced this utterly unique Vespa in 1956. Far from being designed to trundle between fashionable cafes in Paris, it was created for visit site the Troupes AéroPortées, the French military’s elite paratroopers. The important thing to address is the difference between the GTV and the GTS. After all, just as with the GMC SLE and SLT, we’re just a single-letter typo away from complete confusion.
Vespa 946 Dragon
Vespa scooters are known for the pressed steel unibody that fully encloses the engine with a front body that provides wind and debris protection that has become synonymous with the classic Italian motor scooter style. If a larger scooter is a preference, then Vespa’s might not be worth it to you. Otherwise, Vespa makes a diverse line-up of scooters from 50cc regulated and unregulated up to the 300cc option with a smattering of special editions thrown in, as well. The first Vespa with an automatic transmission was the Vespa PK 125 also had electric ignition and automatically mixed gas and oil for quite a few features for scooters of the time.
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What comes to mind when you think of the film Vacanze Romane (Roman Holiday)? Almost certainly, the scene in which Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck speed through the alleys of Rome as if that Vespa were a white horse riding the dreams of a princess discovering a new world, together with her prince charming. This 1953 William Wyler’s masterpiece is only the beginning of the Piaggio Vespa’s many appearances on the big screen. The GTS 300 Super Sport reached 78 mph in a 2023 Bike Matters road test, cementing it as one of the very speediest Vespas around.
