Vesparados S.C.

Sporty scooters making comeback in U.S.

11/18/00 STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS

With red-carpet elegance usually reserved for Hollywood premieres, the Vespa motor scooter is being reintroduced in this country after a 15-year absence, and a Santa Barbara dealership is expected to open in March.

Motor scooters are ubiquitous in European cities with their clogged, narrow streets. For its United States relaunch, Piaggio, which makes Vespas and scooters under other names, is emphasizing glamour over utility.

Vespa is Italian for "wasp," and the distinctive scooter has inspired the same kind of fervor as that other foreign insect vehicle, the Volkswagen Beetle.

Certainly, Piaggio is hoping its reintroduction produces success similar to that of redesigned Beetle. Like the Beetle, the Vespa disappeared in the United States because it could not meet stringent environmental standards, especially in California, where Vespas were top sellers.

The last scooter, with its dirtier two-stroke engine, was sold here in 1985. The two new Vespa models to be sold in America feature four-stroke engines. They will be sold in "boutiques'' that will also feature Vespa-branded accessories, such as matching helmets, leather bags, jackets, gloves and watches.

"Vespa is a classic,'' said Michael Lee Malamut, a partner in the 6,500-square-foot Autoland dealership in Sherman Oaks that opened the first Vespa boutique Thursday. "What makes them so popular is the style, the feel and the look." Malamut said he also plans to sell the scooters at California colleges, on the Internet and through credit unions that already have contracts with Autoland. He has also signed partnership agreements to operate Vespa dealerships from Carmel to San Diego. Other boutiques will open this year in Houston, Chicago, and Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton in Florida. Malamut plans to open a retail boutique in the Santa Barbara area in March2001, a Piaggio spokesman said, although the location has yet to be determined.

For service and repair, scooter owners can already take their Vespas to Moto Paradiso, a Santa Barbara service center authorized by Piaggio USA.

Bob Weindorf, who owns the shop at 707 Anacapa St., has been selling and servicing vintage Italian scooters from Vespa and Lambretta and supporting groups of scooter owners for months. He had hoped to be the businessman opening the franchise here, "but it was already taken by the guy who opened the one in Sherman Oaks," he said.

Weindorf says he's already the "hub" for the Santa Barbara Vespa Club, adding that "anybody who has a Vespa comes here. I must have 30 scooters in the city that I've already done." Scooters have become a popular means of transportation in Santa Barbara, he added. At a recent meeting of the Vespa Club, scooter owners gathered for a barbecue, he said, and some 50 scooters were parked nearby.

Piaggio expects to sell 5,000 new Vespas next year and 10,000 in 2002, not only through boutiques but over the Internet. Those are ambitious goals considering that by Piaggio's own estimates, only 17,000 motorized scooters are sold in the United States annually. But Rosselli believes the scooter market has been underserved mainly because of Vespa's absence. To fuel the demand for Vespas, Piaggio is creating an artificial shortage. Rosselli said the company could "flood the U.S. with Vespas,'' but will ship only about 500 over the next few months to maintain an aura of exclusivity. The Vespa ET2 has a 50cc engine and can reach top speeds of 40 mph. It is expected to sell for $2,950. The ET4 will have a 150cc engine, a top speed of 60 mph and price tag of $3,950. Both models are available with an automatic gearbox and electric starter. Fantappie said by the end of next year a third Vespa model will arrive in the United States.

Developed in 1946 by aeronautical designer Cortradino D'Ascanio, the Vespa has become the world's best-selling motor scooter, with more than 16 million units sold to date. In Europe, Vespa sold 500,000 units last year, which is equal to 30 percent of the motor-scooter market, said Giuseppe Boni, vice president of Piaggio's two-wheeler business unit.

Although the Vespa was first introduced in the U.S. in 1951, it wasn't until two years later, when Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck fell in love on the back of a Vespa in the Academy Award-winning film "Roman Holiday,'' that Americans began to purchase the stylish scooter. "It's a very appealing product,'' said Fabio Ballarin, owner of Vespa Supershop Inc. in San Diego. "It's one of the machines that everyone loves because it brings back memories of a different time."