For nearly 80 years, Vespa has been building more than just scooters. It’s been shaping how people think about two wheels. Born out of postwar necessity after World War II, Vespa showed the world that riding didn’t have to be loud, intimidating, or exclusive. It could be friendly, stylish, and part of everyday life. That idea helped open motorcycle culture to people who might never have considered riding in the first place, and that ripple effect is still felt today.
That’s why Vespa’s 80th anniversary celebration in 2026 matters beyond one brand blowing out birthday candles. At the Goodwood Revival, Vespa will headline a special track parade made up entirely of pre-1966 scooters. These machines will lap the Goodwood Motor Circuit exactly as they were built, without modern updates or reinterpretations. It’s a deliberate move that puts history front and center instead of treating it like a museum piece.
More than 300 scooters are expected to take part, with Vespas making up the bulk of the field. They won’t be alone, though. Period machines from the likes of Lambretta, Italjet, and Iso will also join the parade, all tied together by a La Dolce Vita theme that celebrates design, leisure, and mechanical simplicity from the 1940s through the 1960s. It’s less about brand rivalry and more about a shared era that helped define two-wheeled culture as we know it today.
What Vespa is really highlighting here isn’t nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It’s an intangible kind of progress that often gets overlooked. These scooters were built with modest power, basic engineering, and clear priorities, yet many of them are still running, still usable, and still loved decades later. That kind of longevity clearly comes from a design that respects the rider, and machines that fit naturally into daily life instead of demanding constant attention.
For motorcycle culture as a whole, that message lands at an interesting time. Today’s industry is driven by bigger engines, more electronics, and increasingly complex machines. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it can narrow the definition of what riding is supposed to be. Vespa’s anniversary parade pushes back against that idea. It reminds everyone that scooters and small-displacement bikes have always been a vital gateway into riding, and that accessibility has played just as big a role in growing the culture as performance ever has.
The parade will open a full weekend of racing at Goodwood, where all 15 races are set to run on 100 percent sustainable fuel. Old machines sharing space with modern responsibility is clearly intentional. History isn’t being pushed aside as the industry moves forward. It’s being used as a reference point and a proof-of-concept that old machines need not retire in a world rushing towards a circular economy.
At 80 years old, Vespa is making a clear case for why motorcycling should always leave room for simplicity, accessibility, and machines that put people first, even as the industry keeps chasing what comes next.
Sources: Vespa, VisorDown
