Nothing embodies the spirit of freedom, style and urban chic quite like a Vespa – especially in its country of origin, Italy.

Fewer people own cars in Genoa than in any other Italian city apart from Venice. Instead, there are an estimated 180 000 motorbikes and scooters in Genoa, among a population of 600 000.

The Vespa is the transport of choice for everyone, from aristocrats to waitrons, reports The Guardian. The reasons for this are varied, from its iconic infiltration into pop culture, to the years following WWII, when the roads were too difficult to navigate with a car.

Marketed equally at women and men, the Vespa quickly became a symbol of a kind of mobility, freedom, emancipation and romance that is most possible in cities.

[…]Vespas also featured in many films of the time, including Luchino Visconti’s Bellissima in 1952 and Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita in 1960, but it was Audrey Hepburn wobbling off with a shriek on a 125cc in 1953’s Roman Holiday that confirmed the Vespa’s growing aura abroad as a marker of Italian urban chic.

The Vespa, which is now manufactured in Pontedera, Tuscany, quickly became a worldwide ambassador for Italian style. Its elegant swooping chassis symbolised postwar modernity and freedom, and, in later years, a kind of retro connoisseur taste. But the brand seems ageless: total global sales have passed 18m.

In the 1960s the Vespa became a key accessory to the Mod wardrobe. Since then, the brand’s retro allure has only grown.

And yet, despite the history of the brand and the clear love that Italians have for the scooter, Genoa is now moving to ban Vespas.

The city authorities first tried to do so on Vespa’s 70th anniversary in 2016. To curb pollution, they announced that all scooters built before 1999 would be banned from entering the city centre between 7am and 7pm. The uproar was predictable, hitting Twitter first under the hashtag #lamiavespanonsitocca (“Don’t touch my Vespa”). The municipality eventually backed down.

The new mayor, Marco Bucci, has promised to institute similar measures to be announced soon in the new transport policy for the city, and Genoa isn’t the only European city instituting the ban.

Although it seems surprising that Genoa would want to tar its beloved city mascot, scooters have acquired dirty overtones in European policy circles. The two-stroke engine that powered the Vespa to worldwide fame burns a mixture of oil and gasoline, producing as much pollution as 30-50 four-stroke ones, according to some estimates.

This year, Amsterdam banned pre-2011 models from its low-emission zone and, in 2016, Paris excluded all pre-2000 motorbikes and scooters from the city centre during the day on weekdays. It is an even bigger issue in many Asian cities, where two-stroke scooters are ubiquitous.

Bucci is trying to modernise Italy by moving transport in the direction of electric cars and scooters. Vespa, being innovative and ahead of the game, have already announced their electric scooter.

Diehard Vespa owners, however, are reluctant to part with their prized scooters. Ask Genoan Carrado Nicora, who got his first Vespa to celebrate his 50th birthday.

In Genoa, though, the Vespa is part of the furniture. Perfectly adapted to nipping in and out of the alleys of the historical centre, it is not the retro fetish object it has become in Milan or Rome, let alone London or New York. “In Genoa, it’s not a fashion,” says Nicora. “We use it.”

[…]The local Vespa clubs have said they are ready to resume their fight. Nicora proudly shows off photos of his customised GTS 300 [above] – with a matte-black exhaust, LED headlights and digital display – and waggles his fingers under his chin, the Italian gesture for exasperation. “People talk about globalisation, but you can’t control people. We are different from cities in the north of Europe, like Amsterdam. We are Genoa. Why do we all have to be the same?”

The love inspired by Vespa scooters is not limited to Italy. Our very own Seth Rotherham loves his Vespa so much that he wants to set you up with a sweet deal to help you get your hands on one. Email Seth at editor@2oceansvibe.com and he’ll hook you up.

Vespa clubs are also a worldwide thing and if you’re an owner (or soon-to-be owner) of a Vespa you should check out the Vespa South Africa Facebook page for event details.

If you’re in the Jozi area, here’s what’s happening tomorrow:

[source:guardian]