Didi Resources Sdn Bhd, official distributor of the Vespa brand in Malaysia today introduced the new Vespa 75th Anniversary Series. To celebrate the Vespa’s 75th anniversary as a true citizen of the world, a new special series, Vespa 75th, has been created for the Vespa Primavera in 150 cc model and the Vespa GTS 300 cc. It will be available for 2021 only.

“In Malaysia the first Vespa was brought in by the British and soon after Merdeka, Vespa was made available to Malaysian citizen by Far East. As we mark the 75th anniversary of Vespa with the two special models which is Vespa Primavera 150cc and Vespa GTS 300cc, Vespa has accompanied Malaysian lives and embodied feelings and the desire for freedom. Vespa is part of our culture. It is a protagonist in our lives, in the imagination of many generations. Today, Vespa is one of those rare products that are consistently part of the landscape in our daily lives”, mentioned Mr Rewi Hamid Bugo, Chairman Didi Resources Sdn Bhd.

Vespa celebrates 75 years and reaches the extraordinary milestone of 19 million units produced, beginning from the spring of 1946. The Vespa that celebrates the 19 million is a GTS 300 in 75th Anniversary Special Edition and was assembled in the Pontedera plant, where Vespa has been manufactured uninterrupted since 1946. 19 million Vespas translate into as many stories of guys and girls worldwide who have gained their freedom astride the most beloved two-wheeler in the world.

This extraordinary moment arrives as Vespa is experiencing one of the brightest times of its history. Sold in 83 countries on every continent, it is now the most famous and most loved two-wheeled vehicle in the world. For some time now, Vespa has far surpassed its function as an easy and elegant means of commuting to become a global brand, a symbol of Italian technology and style, capable of bringing millions of enthusiasts together in its name.

A range in constant evolution and consistently on the cutting-edge of technology, a unique style, transcending fashion and trends and skillfully reinventing itself whilst remaining faithful to its original values are just some of the reasons for a success that is measured in over 1 million and 800 thousand vehicles manufactured in the last ten years.

Halfway through the first decade of the new millennia, annual Vespa production was around 50 thousand units and, since then, constant and spectacular growth took it an excess of 100 thousand in 2007 and 200 thousand from 2018.

On the dawn of its 75 years, Vespa is more of a global brand than ever, one of the best known “Made in Italy” products, a true citizen of the world that is manufactured out of three production sites: Pontedera, with production destined for Europe, the Americas and all the western markets; Vinh Phuc, in Vietnam, which serves the local market and the Far East, and India, in the ultra-modern Baramati plant, opened in April 2012, where Vespas for the Indian and Nepalese markets are produced.

A unique history

Vespa was born out of the desire to create an innovative product for individual mobility. First a “motor scooter” was built on the model of small motorcycles for parachutists and then a prototype that revolutionised the concept that had dominated the classic motorcycling layout until then. A vehicle was created with a stress-bearing body, direct-drive, with the gear shift on the handlebar. The classic front fork disappeared in favour of a single-sided swingarm that made tyre changes easier and, above all, the frame disappeared, replaced by a stress-bearing body capable of protecting the rider from dirt and rumpled clothing. The Vespa design patent filing date is 23 April 1946.

From its first appearance – in a country where everything needed to be rebuilt but, partly for this reason, full of ideas, creativity and hope – Vespa represented the joy of living and racing toward the future and this is why it soon became an icon of freedom and emancipation for guys and girls all over the world. This wealth of Vespa’s values was accompanied throughout the years by a style and technology always on the cutting-edge in the various decades of its life.

After the years of rebirth, Vespa continued to strengthen its legendary status, fortifying its identity through the decades of economic prosperity and the generational renewal of the sixties. As cars and mass motorisation spread, Vespa offered salvation from traffic, with the versions in the smaller engine sizes catering to the legendary world of youth which, precisely in those years, was gaining its space in society. And when, in the ‘70s, the signs of a growing ecological awareness arrived, Vespa was the antidote to city pollution, able to zip through traffic and easily find parking.

In the various eras it has seen, Vespa has always represented the cutting-edge of technology. Characterised by an extremely advanced stress-bearing body concept, still built entirely out of steel to this day, it marked the evolution of individual mobility. Today, the latest Vespa vehicles, equipped with ecological engines and technical solutions to support modern riding, represent the style synthesis of an evolution that has made Vespa design immortal, ensuring it is an icon of Italian elegance the world over.

Vespa 75th Anniversary Series

The Vespa 75th body, all-steel as always, is presented in “Giallo 75th”, an original metallic yellow. Developed specifically for the new series as a contemporary interpretation of hues in vogue in the 1940s, the colour evokes the heritage, innovative spirit and fashion-loving style of the Vespa.

The side panels and front mudguard display the number 75 in a slightly stronger shade, creating a quietly elegant tone-on-tone effect, which is repeated on the front of the scooter, where the traditional “tie” is an opaque pyrite yellow.

The two-wheeler also features a special nubuck leather saddle in smoke grey with piping, wheel rims painted in grey with a machine finish and a host of chrome-plated details, including the “tie” ornaments, the stickers on the front mudguard, the instrument cluster surround, the muffler cover, the rear-view mirrors and, on the GTS only, the foldaway passenger footpegs.

The rear luggage rack, another distinctive feature of the Vespa 75th, is also chrome-plated: it houses a round bag whose shape replicates the typical spare wheel holder. Made from velvety-soft nubuck leather in the same colour as the saddle, the bag has a shoulder strap for easy carrying, and clips on the luggage rack with a quick-release mechanism. It comes with a waterproof cover.

Like all Vespa special editions, the series is identified with a plate behind the leg shield.

In technology terms, the Vespa 75th represents the top of the Vespa range: all the models of this anniversary version are equipped with a 4.3” TFT colour display, while the fully digital instrument cluster makes the best possible use of the capabilities of the Vespa MIA smartphone connectivity system.

In addition to all this, to mark the exclusivity of this special celebratory series, each Vespa 75th comes with a Welcome Kit including a vintage steel Vespa plate, a personal Owner’s Book and eight collector postcards with images from the eight decades of the Vespa story.

The official selling price for Vespa Primavera 75th Anniversary is RM23,500 and the selling price for the Vespa GTS 300 75th Anniversary is RM38,900