Italy’s iconic, design classic and symbol of “dolce vita”, the Vespa turned 70 last weekend.

Piaggio is marking the 70th anniversary of the iconic Vespa scooter with a special commemorative series of models, including the nippy Vespa Primavera, the sporty GTS (in 125cc and 300cc versions) and the timeless PX. Events are also lined up to celebrate Vespa’s milestone, including this year’s Vespa World Day in the South of France.

Italy’s most celebrated scooter is buzzing along nicely after tripling sales in the last decade.

It was on a Vespa that Gregory Peck pursued Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday”, the 1953 film that helped make the marque synonomous internationally with the Roman capital.

But it was actually in Florence that the wasp-shaped two-wheeler was born, Enrico Piaggio having registered the patent in the Tuscan capital on April 23, 1946.

Seventy years later, More than 18 million Vespa scooters have been sold worldwide,with some 150 versions and variants of the original 1946 model.

To celebrate the 70th birthday hundreds of Vespa aficionados gathered at the weekend at Pontedera near Pisa, where the scooter has been produced continuously since 1946.

The special-edition 70th-anniversary scooters mainly stand out for their exclusive colour finishes and Vespa Settantesimo “70°” logo on the passenger seat leather and on the glovebox.

The commemorative models will be available from May 2016, in Azzuro 70 blue or in grey, priced from €4,099 for the Vespa PX 125 to €5,799 for the GTS 300 ABS.

Vespa has even designed a new brown leather bag that matches the seat. This can be fixed to the rear chrome-plated luggage rack in all the special-edition models.

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