Every year the Vespa World Club celebrates Vespa World Days, which this year were held again in Italy, in the town of Pontedera, in the Pisa region. The Vespa Village was established in this town and was the nerve center to which they went. Vespa clubs from countries such as Japan, Argentina, Hong Kong, Kuwait, United States, Canada, China and Vietnam, along with representatives from Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria, which shows that the Vespa It has been a true icon of global mobility for 78 years.
Among the 20,000 Vespas that attended the event in Pontedera You could see all the models produced in the 78 years of the brand’s history, from the first and very rare 98 cc of 1946 to the latest versions of the Vespa Primavera, Sprint and GTS, passing through legendary models such as the 125 “low headlight” of the early 1950s, the popular VBB series, the 50cc of 1964, the ET3 125, the Rally of the years 70 and the always numerous representation of the Vespa PX.
Starting from the center of Pontedera and Escorted by the State Police, the endless procession of Vespas traveled through a good part of the hills of the province of Pisa, in a colorful caravan of more than 15 kilometers. Something never seen before and that surpassed any other Vespa rally held so far, an event worthy of appearing in the Guinness Book of Records. The caravan returned to the Vespa Village, where the party continued
A tradition from 76 years ago
The first major Vespa meeting took place in 1948, just two years after its launch, on the occasion of the Milan Fair. The Italian Vespa Clubs organized a rally called the “silver swarm”, due to the characteristic silver-green color of the first Vespa. It was the first major meeting that had an extraordinary resonance. During the 1950s, Vespa races, regional and national journeys in Italy and outside Italy, such as the Tour of Switzerland or the Tour of the Three Seas, with routes that reached up to 2,000 km, were common.
The Vespa Club Europa was founded in Milan in February 1953, thanks to the agreement of the representatives of the Vespa Clubs of Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. A few months after its creation, Austria, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and Sweden joined. Subsequently, the Vespa Club Mondial was born, which will be called – along with the European one – Fédération Internationale des Vespa Clubs, active until 2005. In 2006, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Vespa, the Vespa World Club was born., which brings together the coordination and promotion functions of all Vespa organizations in the world. Today there are 66 countries associated with the Vespa World Club.
