Celebrating 70 years of Vespa

The Vespa World Days 2016 showcased a wide range of these iconic mopeds, from the classics that were basic but elegant to crazy designs, like a hot sparkly pink scooter with a matching helmet, and even his-and-her bikes with cheeky number plates.

The first Eurovespa was born in Paris 1954. 60 years later, the Vespa Club de France was proudly setting up for the fifth time on the 2nd June 2016. Due to this year’s festival being held in the South of France, most of the 4,000 Vespistes were Italian, however, there were a total of 15 countries represented, including Belgium, Israel, Austria, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.

Being the proud owner of a Vespa myself, I was extremely excited to walk around to admire the variations of the scooter dating back to 1946. The atmosphere was extremely friendly and welcoming in the Port de St Tropez, but the enthusiasm kicked in when I drove through Port Grimaud and was pasted by waves of Vespas celebrating their nationality.

Unlike the Harley Davidson Festival, early this year, the admirers of the Vespas and the locals were more comfortable interacting with each other. The noise was certainly much more pleasant and the smell was also less pungent than the Harleys. Although nationalities stuck together, there was no hesitation to chat to another nationality to esteem over their respective vehicles.

Vespa-enthusiasts even dressed for the occasion with some goers dressed head-to-toe in 60s-inspired outfits. One comedian-local even dressed as a nun to throw holy water and bless each Vespa that passed her. Apart from gatherings and walks, there was also a Contest of Elegance (Concours D’Elegance), which forty Vespas where enrolled in- the oldest dating back to 1949. Candidates dressed in the style of the time and they were paraded around Quai Suffren before a jury led by the mayor of Saint Tropez judged the winner.

Although I was in awe of all the Vespas, I was looking particularly for the British Vespas, as I had recently just watch the film Quadrophenia. The 1979 British film is roughly based on the 1973 rock opera by the rock group The Who. Mods were very particular about fashion, and they saw their scooters as a fashion accessory. They would customise their scooters by over-accessorising them with luggage racks, crash bars, and scores of mirrors and fog lights. Some Mods added as many as 30 mirrors to their scooters and they would usually put their names on the small windscreen. They also sometimes took their engine side panels and front bumpers to electroplating shops to get them covered in highly reflective chrome.

I was slightly disappointed to only see one Mod Vespa on the way into Saint Tropez, however, on my way back to the car park, I came across three amazingly-customised Mod Vespas which made my day. One had more than ten extra headlights added with around thirteen extra horns, and sported an animal print seat. Another highlight was seeing a Vespa with an added side-car driving down the port with a massive teddy bear sitting in the seat.

There was perfect weather from the morning until around 2:00pm (which was unfortunately followed by a lightning storm), but it meant that you could wonder around or sit in a port café with a refreshing drink while admiring the affair.

Next year’s Vespa World Days will be held in the small town of Celle, Germany on the 22nd-25th June 2017.