Down a flight of stairs beneath a scooter rental shop near the Colosseum, Rome’s heat and honking traffic give way to a calm, cool reverence in the form of a basement shrine to Italy’s most iconic two-wheeler. Parked in chronological order are machines that look more like sculptures in steel and chrome: Vespas from 1946 onward, their narrow waists and curved bodies instantly recognizable.
In the last week in Rome, their buzz has been even more pronounced than usual, with thousands of Vespa riders moving in swarms throughout the city for the vehicle’s 80th anniversary. They streamed through the intense summer heat past the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus and the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla — some wearing vintage leather helmets, others with flags fluttering.
