ROME, April 23 — Piaggio is marking the 70th anniversary of the iconic Vespa scooter with a special commemorative series of models, including the nippy Vespa Primavera, the sporty GTS (in 125cc and 300cc versions) and the timeless PX. Events are also lined up to celebrate Vespa’s milestone, including this year’s Vespa World Day in the South of France.
The special-edition 70th-anniversary scooters mainly stand out for their exclusive colour finishes and Vespa Settantesimo “70°” logo on the passenger seat leather and on the glovebox.
The commemorative models will be available from May 2016, in Azzuro 70 blue or in grey, priced from €4,099 (RM17,975) for the Vespa PX 125 to €5,799 for the GTS 300 ABS. Vespa has even designed a new brown leather bag that matches the seat. This can be fixed to the rear chrome-plated luggage rack in all the special-edition models.
Among events organised to celebrate Vespa’s anniversary year, The Vespa Club of Pontedera is holding an International Meeting, April 23-25, bringing riders and enthusiasts to the scooter’s Italian hometown. As well as tours, exhibitions, handling contests and more, visitors can take a guided tour of the Piaggio factory or brush up on the history of the iconic Italian two-wheeler at the Piaggio Museum.
Another key date in the diary of festivities is this year’s “Vespa World Days,” held June 2 to 5, 2016, in Saint-Tropez in the South of France. This annual meeting brings together Vespa owners’ clubs from around the world for a programme of events including tours and scooter runs. There’ll even be a “concours d’élégance” — a 1950s and 1960s themed Vespa pageant held on the town’s famous harbour.
More than 18 million Vespa scooters have been sold worldwide over the last 70 years, with some 150 versions and variants of the original 1946 model. — AFP-Relaxnews
