Principal Blog
Vespa hits 80
21 May 2026
Vespa hits 80
The post-war settlement and an economy in as much ruins as its former bomber plane factory meant Piaggio had to find a new way to make some lira.
From such necessity, an icon was born: the Vespa.
The first 1946 two-stroke, signalled great things to come, with Vespa today sitting sitting pretty – very pretty – amidst the much wider Piaggio family.
Paul Browne tips his café cortado and ruffles his cravat in honour of the great Italian manufacturer as it marks its 80th birthday.
Some time ago, when life was easier and people were nicer, I went on a holiday to Sicily and stayed in a town called Cefalù.
I did very little while I was there.
The place was beautiful, there were no neon lights, no Irish bars and very few people spoke English.
I later learned that it was where Cinema Paradiso was filmed.
The streets were narrow cobblestoned affairs and the locals used those cool three-wheeled trucks, Apes, to carry goods around the place and scooters for personal transport.
Mass transit
Then, one sun-kissed Sunday morning, as I sat outside a café drinking the best coffee ever brewed and looked out over the Mediterranean, the bells rang for mass.
The sound of the two-stroke exhausts on the scooters echoed through the streets every day, but Sunday was special.
Emerging from the shaded street and out into the piazza was a carefully cleaned Vespa.
Dad rode the beast with his pre-school son standing between him and the handlebars, an infectious grin on the child’s face, while mum sat side-saddle on the pillion seat. In her arms she held their new born child.
Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best and, whilst my paymasters at Principal Insurance would have looked askance at the health and safety scenario before me, I have to note they all looked effortlessly beautiful.
At the time I was a die hard sports bike rider and wouldn’t have looked sideways at a scooter of any sort. Now they were the coolest thing on two wheels!
80 years young
This year Vespa celebrate being around for eighty years.
Much like Honda and their Cub, the Italian company was born out of necessity at the end of WWII and its eponymous scooter built to a budget.
The Vespa became a powerful rote to social change, offering a personal transportation solution which offered freedom of movement in a struggling post-war Italy.
It also became an extension of Italian chic.
Movies ‘n’ Mods
Being as glamorous as it was, Vespa quickly became a movie star.
Roman Holiday starred Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck riding around Rome on an epic ‘learn to ride’ experience.
Quadrophenia introduced the idea of heavily modifying scooters and gave us the razor sharp dressed ‘Mod’.
The good and the great have all owned one.
Salvador Dalí, Giorgio Armani and Maria Grazia Chiuri of Christian Dior as well as lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Jude Law, Tom Hanks, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman and even David Letterman. They have all starred alongside, owned or ridden one.
If you reckon that you’re cool enough, the full range can be found at Megabikes on Dublin’s Wexford Street.
Ask for Robbie, himself quite possibly the snappiest clothed person in the business!
