Vespa

From The Vespa Club of America:

Motorscooter Enthusiast, The Vespa Club of America (VCOA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, restoring and preserving European motorscooters. Since approximately 70% of them sold in the United States were Vespas, most members are Vespisti. However, many prefer Lambrettas. Some favor other models, such as Heinkel Tourists or Zundapp Bellas. Despite its emphasis on Vespa motorscooters, the VCOA welcomes anyone interested in European marquees.

Amerivespa

Since 1993, the Vespa Club of America has sponsored an annual motorscooter rally to promote scootering and VCOA membership.

Amerivespa 2007 will be held in Seattle, Washington on July 12 - 15.

From The Vespa Club of America:

Amerivespa 2004

12th Annual National Rally
June 24nd - 27th
Salt Lake City, Utah

Review by Michael McWilliams

Ten Years of Amerivespa Bliss

I have been an active participant in the Amerivespa planning process since 1995. In that year, Peter Crowl and I moved Amerivespa to Colorado Springs. This followed two successful events in Springfield, Missouri.

Organizing a big national rally that is held in different parts of the country each year is an extraordinary challenge. VCOA members from all over the country have to find a local team that we can work with to put on a complex event. It has been a great privilege to work with different local teams over the years.

I appreciate this responsibility because I enjoy meeting rally planners from other parts of the country. These teams bring fresh ideas to our rally. I enjoy seeing Amerivespa grow from these ideas to an excellent event. Amerivespa 2004 was no exception. The Salt Lake City team quickly defined a schedule that fit the Amerivespa template and gave it a signature all their own.

Amerivespa opened with an early-bird pizza party at Stoneground. Dozens of early arrivers enjoyed the beer and pies served by Bob Mcarthy and his staff.

If you have been to an Amerivespa, you know that the event begins in full force early on Friday—typically late afternoon. For me, and a hand full of others, Friday began at 5am. A local morning news program wanted us to add color to their broadcast. Who could turn down a spot on TV? Not me.

Arriving at the station, the television crew greeted us and requested that we team up with a few dozen Miss Utah contestants for their filler segments. These lovely young ladies were present to promote the Miss Utah pageant. Apparently, our scooters weren’t as marketable as the contestants. In retrospect, I agree.

Later that afternoon, scooterists met for a shopping crawl in the Sugar House area. Once home to Utah's sugar factory, Sugar House now contains a variety of interesting shopping and dining spots.

Friday's main attraction was a scootour of Salt Lake City. Team leaders divided the attendees into three teams. Each team visited unique sites in Salt Lake City.

This ride was well coordinated. One of the most exciting moments was when all three rides intersected. My ride came to a stop at a street light. At that moment one team flew past us from the left as the other team past of us from the right. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who felt like we were playing parts in a well orchestrated dance. The look on people’s faces in cars was one of utter bewilderment.

The ride ended with all three groups rendezvousing at the Utah State Capitol building. This setting was a dramatic place to end a ride. We had a great view of the city and a sense of Utah’s history. From there, we practically coasted down hill to the nighttime event.

Brewvies Cinema Pub hosted Friday's dinner location. In addition to the fantastic eats, Brewvies played several scootering videos in their theater. One of the feature films was Across the Sahara by Vespa, the old film footage compiled by Rohn Engh of his African odyssey on a GS 150 with his partner Rudi Thurau.

Amerivespa Saturday is really the showcase of our rally. The Salt Lake City crew arranged for use of the Gallivan Center for Amerivespa. The Gallivan Center was a hotspot during the 2002 Olympics. I can say this location is the most polished site the VCOA has ever used! In securing the Gallivan Center I believe the Amerivespa 2004 team conquered more obstacles than all prior teams. The Gallivan Center was a true test of the organizing team’s abilities, and they came through magnificently.

As always, the Saturday activities included Concours d' Elegance, the Gymkhana, vendor displays, and a whole lot of mingling. Thai Spice Gourmet catered the dinner, which I must say, was the best-darned rally food I have ever enjoyed.

Genuine Scooters provided a customized Stella for the Amerivespa raffle. This silver Stella was decked out in Shepard Fairey graphics commemorating this year’s event. An excited Bob Poast won the scooter. Bob’s winning ticket came from his rally pack! Bob is a retired school teacher and recently caught the scooter bug. A few days prior to Amerivespa, Bob purchased a project P200 from Scooter Lounge.

The Urban Lounge provided entertainment later in the evening for folks that did not get enough action during the day. I stopped by, but was too tired to hang out.

Scoot.net hosted a Sunday breakfast consisting of eggs, sausages, donuts and juice. It was fantastic grub to prep a hung-over body for 55 mile ride into the mountains.v

The ride meandered through town and eventually headed into Mill Creek Canyon. A few of us were getting gas when the ride left. We tried to catch up, but lost track along the way. Ultimately, we jumped on the freeway and arrived at the destination minutes after the pack. Let me say that there is nothing more fun that riding your GS150 on the interstate!

The ride down was less challenging but every bit as exciting. After 20 years of scootering, I still get giddy being in a pack of vintage scooters.

Bohemian Brewery hosted dinner and home brews for Amerivespa’s finale. We could not have had a better location. Pete Petras, owner, is an avid scooterist. The upper floor of the Bohemian was a showroom to several vintage scooters. The Bohemian is a “must see” for any scooterist planning to visit Salt Lake City.

Amerivespa 2004 was a blast for me. I could not have had a better experience as a retiring club president. Thank you SLC crew, you did a marvelous job!

In 2004, Shepard Fairey designed a print for Amerivespa, a festival held June 24-27, 2004 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Shepard also did an Obey assemblage of a vespa, for auction.

Vespa Print