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Behind the Wheel - Vespa Culture
By Amy Maestas
HOLLYWOOD INFLUENCE
None of the women attributes her fascination to the legendary
entertainers who rode Vespas in some of Hollywood's classic movies. But, they
acknowledge the impact such movies had on the popularity of the two-wheeled
scooters.
Audrey Hepburn drew interest in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday, as she
rides sideways on the back of a Vespa erratically driven by Gregory Peck.
Gene Kelly, Henry Fonda, and Marcello Mastroianni also rode Vespas, in films
from the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1979 film Quadrophenia, Vespas turned up
everywhere in this story about 1960s British mods traveling on the scooters
to the English seaside where they clashed with the rival Rockers, who rode
motorcycles.
Quadrophenia cast a new light on the Italian scooters, and along with the
movie soundtrack recorded by The Who, Vespa riding and mod music was
manifested in a new kind of fanaticism. It's the reason Heather Easton fell
in love with Vespas.
"For me it was being part of the mod subculture as a teen," says the
28-year-old publishing coordinator and Ontario, Canada resident. "The
ultimate thing to have as a mod is a cool scooter, and that was my main
motivation at the time. Soon after I got the scooter, though, I sort of left
the mod thing behind, but got totally into being a scooterist."
Easton rides a 1965 Vespa GL 150. She describes its color as a "weird
acidy-green and goldy-cream pearl." She is a member of the all-women club The
Screamin' Mimis. The club, established in 1997, has about 15 members in
Toronto, Chicago, New York and Boston.
Like many members of all-women scooter clubs, Easton says women
interested in Vespas are finding more common interest with each other, and a
sense of comfort and camaraderie that is noticeably absent with male Vespa
riders.
"The scooter scene was and is still mainly dominated by men. They are not
too accepting of women riders for the most part, although there are several
cool guys who are not threatened by women riders," she says.
Screamin'Mimis formed out of a desire to cut out all the competitive
bullshit.
"We wanted to have all girls to show up the boys who never want chicks in
their clubs," Easton says. "And it's not a contest as much with women. For
instance, I am not threatened when one of the chicks shows up with a cool
scooter. I think, 'way to go girl.' Guys generally can't stand to admit that
a chick's bike is better than theirs."
While it is true that men are probably more mechanically inclined, with
an urge to strip a piece of machinery to its bare bones for the thrill of
grease and challenge, women Vespa riders do have some gender advantages.
When Missi Walker and her friend were at a San Francisco scooter rally a
few years ago, the duo was challenged by relentless rain. The rain was
flooding the carburetor filter on Walker's Vespa.
"We fixed it . by putting a sanitary napkin wrapper over it and it saved
the day," recounts the 27-year-old Denver resident and customer service
representative.
Walker currently owns a 1980 Vespa P200, in addition to four Lambretta
scooters. She's been riding for six years, and has let the scooter passion
take her by storm. She sports a tattoo of the Piaggio logo on her back. And
when she talks of scooters, she acts and treats them like children - all
eight of them.
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