Martyn Peacock from Northamptonshire Vespa and Lambretta Scooter Club recently wrote about his club’s ride to Italy for Vespa Roma ’26, which was the biggest gathering of Vespas ever.
Closed streets on a Saturday morning- imagine London allowing this for a load of old scooters?
Calm before the storm
Here, in part 2, we see the sights as an estimated 25,000 scooters take part in a procession through the streets of the Italian capital. The roads were closed to ‘normal’ traffic from 7 am until around 11 am, and the sound and aroma of two-strokes filled the cobbled streets. Here’s what Martyn thought of it…
All roads lead to Rome
We’d arrived in Roma! From the hotel, our group took taxis into the centre of Rome on Friday evening to hook up with other Brits for a pre-arranged meet-up for drinks at the TreeBar.
Meet & greet
The temperature had dropped a little (hardly dropped at all) from the 43°C scorching sunshine earlier in the day; nevertheless, it was still too warm for anything other than shorts and shirts. After a pint and catching up with fellow VCB members at the ‘meet and greet ’, we arranged to catch up later at the Irish Bar after we’d had food.
Game Over!
Just over the road we stumbled onto a nice little classic Italian restaurant where we commandeered several tables. We’d just tucked into our pasta and pizzas when we were rudely interrupted by those pesky Doughboys banging on the window – hi guys ‘n gals. We beckoned them in to join us for a toast to Cog 77 & Cog 366 – Northamptonshire’s finest in Roma. This was a unique kind of toast, with Paul Leadley removing his prosthetic leg, which was utilised as the drinking vessel! The socket of the leg was filled with beer and passed around the tables for everyone to have a sip; however, the toast came to a rather abrupt ending when the false leg reached Alfie Valerie, who downed the remaining beer in one! Game over.
When in Rome, find an Irish bar…
Swappsies
After paying the bill we moved swiftly on to The Kilmoon local Irish Bar. After signing on, the next few hours were spent exchanging tales of epic journeys across Europe, to make it to Rome & the obligatory sticker exchange, commonly known as ‘Swappsies’. There was a spirited atmosphere inside and around Kilmoon’s until about 2 am when the bar was drunk dry – all because of the 100 or so thirsty Brits!
Flying the flag
That night, the time in an air-conditioned hotel room was great while it lasted, but there was little respite, as the next morning we were up at 7 am to attach flags to our scooters, ready for the big Saturday morning Vespa 80th Birthday Parade around Rome. We headed straight into Central Rome to the ‘Terme di Caracalla’, the ancient ruins of the Roman Baths, for the parade start point.
The Grand Parade
The front runners set off at 9 am, and reportedly, it took 90 minutes until the final riders left the start point. Organisers claim that at 25,000 it was the biggest gathering of Vespa scooters in the world, ever! This included every model of Vespa, from every year of production. It was certainly, by far, easily the most impressive ride out I’d ever had the privilege of participating in.
The route soon passed by the Colosseum and along all the major thoroughfare routes of Rome; on the wider streets, there were Vespas riding 12 abreast – I make no exaggeration when I say that it made the annual Isle of Wight ride out look like your average club’s Sunday Breakfast Run.
The Olympic Spirit
Gilly and I pressed on, photos at the majestic Central de Museo Roma building followed by St. Peter Square and the Vatican before we made a beeline for the ‘Vespa Village’ being held at the Foro de Italico Stadium. The impressive stadium was commissioned by the Mussolini Forum and built between 1928 and 1938 in an effort for Rome to win the hosting of the 1940 Olympics.
Marbles champion
Alas, the games were awarded to Tokyo and then promptly cancelled due to World War II. The Foro Italico was eventually used for the 1960 Summer Olympics. I must say that the stadium itself was the grandest scooter rally venue I’d ever seen, with its 60 marble 12ft statues of famous athletes encompassing the arena.
Get you home parts
We enjoyed browsing the various displays of historical Vespa exhibits and vintage and modern-day scooters. All the major aftermarket trade associates had stalls: Polini, Malossi, Dellorto, etc. Whilst there were lots of shiny parts on offer, I noted there wasn’t a stall for ‘get you home parts’, which many could have done with.
At first glance, there were some really nice items in a large souvenir shop, but after inspecting the merchandise and noticing the hefty price tags, it was all carefully replaced on the shelves.
After an hour in the sweltering heat, we were very grateful to stumble across the officials handing out free water.
Gary (yellow VCB shirt) proudly collects his trophy
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
Having carefully plotted a solo route through France, calling in at vast amounts of Piaggio dealerships along his way to Rome, it was now time for Gary Robertson to be called up on stage for the presentation of ‘The Vespa Trophy’ – well done, Gary!
If you enjoy history and sightseeing, Rome is packed full of things to see. A great city to visit, even without a million Vespas in town!
Guided tour
We headed back to the hotel, making sure we arrived an hour before the pool closed. A relaxing dip was just what the doctor had ordered (for us), whilst Trev and his missus, Penny, enjoyed the Rome experience, as he had brought tickets for a guided tour of the Colosseum.
Dawn and I headed back into Rome on the Vespa later for an evening meal. Our ride back after darkness was a nice contrast, seeing all the landmarks again, but this time lit up by floodlights.
Words: Martyn
Photos: Martyn, Iggy and Booga
Part of the journey
Our two-week trip wasn’t solely built around the Rome weekend, so none of us had splashed out on the official tickets. By all accounts from those who did, there was a bit of a fiasco during queuing for the collection of their official goodie bags, and apparently the evening’s entertainment, a pop concert, was nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, it was nice to be able to say ‘We were there’. We have some fantastic memories – especially the grand parade, and being a part of the weekend’s festivities was a great experience.
Coming up in part 3…
It’s the long ride home for Martyn and friends.
