Lil’ Vespa embodies coolness

How cool are you?

Never mind. You don’t have to answer that. But however cool you

think you are, you’re not as cool as a Vespa. Don’t feel bad. Not

many things are.

Italy’s “little scooter that could” is making a comeback, and then

some.

It never really went away, but the combination of environmental

concerns and changing tastes have once again made the indomitable

Vespa the two-wheeled mouse that roared. Don’t just take my word for

it...as if you’d take my word for anything. Next time you are

cruising down Coast Highway in your motorcar, check out the

understated store just north of the China Palace Restaurant.

Yes, that is indeed a Vespa dealer - sending scores of those sassy

Italian scooters out the door and down the road to do battle with the

highways and byways of Newport-Mesa and beyond. By the way, Vespa

calls their dealerships “Vespa Boutiques.” Did I tell you? Very cool.

Do you know what Vespa means? Neither do I. Just kidding.

Vespa is Italian for “wasp”, as in, “Yikes, I hate those, is it

still there!!” Enrico Piaggio, the father of Vespa, came up with the

name because the engine cowlings on the early models looked like a

wasp’s abdomen. I have no idea why or how anyone would know what a

wasp’s abdomen looks like other than another wasp, but Enrico did,

the name stuck, so there.

The Piaggio company was, and is, a big deal major league

manufacturer in Italy. After World War II, most of the roads in Italy

were but a fond memory. Piaggio decided that what the country needed

was not a five-cent cigar, but a cheap, tough, dependable vehicle

that could carry one or two people down the block or to the next town

on a litro (liter) and a half of gas.

Corradino D’Ascanio, the engineer at Piaggio who designed the

first Vespa, also designed the first commercial helicopter. Can you

find this kind of information anywhere else? You cannot.

The first 15 Vespa’s scampered out of the Piaggio factory in April

1946. Less than 10 years later, Vespa No. 1,000,000 hit the streets.

By the mid ‘50s, Vespa’s were being cranked out fast, and gobbled up

faster, in Germany, England, France, Belgium and Spain.

And that’s just about when Audrey Hepburn kicked in. If you are of

a certain age, you cannot hear the word “Vespa” without seeing Audrey

Hepburn on the back of one, hanging on to Gregory Peck in “Roman

Holiday.” Faster than you can say “Ciao!” Vespa was the international

symbol for “cool.”

From that day forward, if you looked up c-o-o-l in the dictionary,

there was a picture of a Vespa beside it. Audrey Hepburn would have

been more than enough to keep Vespa zipping along. But when Anita

Ekberg took her turn on Marcello Mastroianni’s Vespa in “La Dolce

Vita” in 1959, and Angie Dickinson struck a legendary pose on a Vespa

in “Jessica” in 1962, Vespa was the undisputed king of cool.

Enrico Piaggio may have thought it was all about durability and

gas mileage, but it was really about Audrey Hepburn and Angie

Dickinson all along.

Vespa isn’t something you ride. It’s something you wear.

So what are the new ones like and how many lire will they set you

back? I slipped into the Newport Beach boutique to check out Vespa

2003 for myself. The new Vespa’s are very, well...cool. And if these

things were any cuter, they’d wink at you. In fact, I think one of

them did.

More than sixty miles to the gallon is darn impressive, and

price-wise, they’re almost painless by today’s standards - about

$3,000 for the two stroke “ET2” and $4,000 for the four stroke “ET4.”

Tried to buy a car for $4,000 lately? No problem, assuming your dream

car is a 1974 Gremlin stick with rubber mats and a coat hanger for an

antenna.

But the Vespa accessories are where the full force of Italian

design comes into play.

Helmets? I’ll give you helmets. All the helmets are

color-coordinated with the scooters. Vespa Red scooter, Vespa Red

helmet. Add a little chrome trim, a suede seat, handmade in Modena, a

custom tote bag of fine Italian leather, and you can be just as hip

as you want to be.

What do you say we head for the open road and a romantic weekend

in Santa Barbara or San Diego? What do you say we don’t.

Vespa’s may be exceedingly cool, but they’re also exceedingly

illegal on the freeways. The people in the black and white cars with

the brown uniforms and the really big sunglasses will not be amused.

Funny though, what kept popping into my mind wasn’t Audrey Hepburn

or the Fountain of Trevi. It was parking.

Picture this: It’s a sunny summer Sunday on Balboa Island, or a

hectic December 23rd at South Coast Plaza. I don’t care. You pick.

There are two kinds of people here: them that have a parking space,

and them that don’t. And them that don’t are feeling mighty low. But

you, you stylish dog, you zip to the head of the 1,200 car line, pull

up to the front door of your choice, pop your Vespa up on the

sidewalk, lock it up and disappear inside before the paparazzi even

know you’re there.

Perfetto!

Fine Italian leather is one thing. But around here, parking on

demand, anywhere, anytime, is a wasp of a different color.

Cool. Ciao. I gotta go.

* PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs

Sundays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].