Vroom of One's Own

By Harriet Barovick

In the parking lot of a usually staid Portuguese meeting hall in San Diego, Calif., the Violent Femmes blare from a corner amp as the putt-putting of engines competes with the squealing of high-pitched horns. Many dozens of motor scooters in burgundies, grays and greens line the parking lot, displaying favored ornaments--a Tinky Winky doll hanging from one, a picture of Rocky and Bullwinkle's Natasha from another. Ahhh, the smell of exhaust fumes from tiny tailpipes. Welcome to the Vespa Club of America's annual rally, which recently drew nearly 300 motor scooterists from all over the U.S. for four days of partying, prizes and an obstacle course that required nimble riders to navigate around tires, duck under a limbo line and even bite a cherry off a swing.

Ever since Italian manufacturer Piagio introduced the iconic scooters to the U.S. in 1951, Vespas have had a devoted following. Supplies of the bikes dwindled after a 1981 California law prohibiting their smog-emitting engines led Piagio to stop exporting them to the U.S. in the mid-'80s. Yet demand has only grown, and lately devotees have transformed a cultish affection into an unprecedented vintage-scooter revival. Sales of old and restored Vespas and Lambrettas (no longer produced) have more than tripled since 1996, averaging $3,500 each.

This summer scooters have become a hot accessory, popping up in movies (American Pie, the new Austin Powers), fashion spreads, music videos and ads (Doc Martens, IBM). Especially popular on both coasts, Vespas are a favored toy of such celebrities as Ellen DeGeneres (girlfriend Anne Heche gave her one) and Jerry Seinfeld (who paid some $10,000 for his rare 1962 Grand Sport). So popular have they become that Piagio plans to return to the U.S. market with environmentally compliant Vespas in 2000. "This is the year for scooters," says Erik Larson of the Scooter Shop in Orange, Calif., one of only about 20 shops in the U.S. that restore and sell the bikes. "I can't keep them on the floor."

Part of it is pure nostalgia. At the height of scooter mania in the 1950s, the sleek, steel-framed bikes were symbols of romantic escapism. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn putted through Rome on a Vespa in Roman Holiday; it was a favorite toy of Hollywood's elite, including Gary Cooper and Jayne Mansfield. In 1960s England, while big, grease-sputtering Harleys were ridden by leather-clad Rockers, elegant Vespas were the signature of their archrivals--and regular rumble opponents--the fashionable Mods.

Now a '90s-tinged Mod look is the scene in clubs around the country. Vintage scooter riders with a penchant for the Who, '60s soul and contemporary Britpop bands like Blur and Oasis are let into many of these clubs for free--it's good for the atmosphere. Piper Ferguson, a promoter at Hollywood's Cafe Bleu, says that on some nights as many as 100 twentysomethings--sporting shiny sharkskin suits, pointy Beatles boots and tattoos--line up their bikes in the club lot. But Vespa fanatics include businessmen, middle-aged women and just regular guys. Hairstylist Robert Winslow, 29, moved from a roomy loft in New York City's tony TriBeCa to a dingier but more spacious Brooklyn apartment without a kitchen, strictly to accommodate his vintage bikes. "I'm obsessive," he says. "My place is pretty much a garage." In May, Mike Frankovich, 25, a student and founder of the Hollywood Rat Pack scooter club, rode the entire length of U.S. Route 66 on his Vespa P200E.

Vintage scooterists scorn the strictly practical Hondas and Yamahas--and dub them "Tupperware." Possessing more cachet are new bikes that boast classic style but modern components, like ItalJet's Velocifero and Dragster models, favorites of Michael Stipe and Martha Stewart. ("Vintage without the repairs," says ItalJet USA's Joel Sacher.) Even these don't cut it with diehards like New York lawyer Tom Giordano. "Finding a charming, rusted-out relic and turning it into a jewel," he says, "that's a big part of the love affair."

--With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/San Diego

With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/San Diego