History of the Vespa World Club

We all call it, in an improper way, the “second edition of Eurovespa”. This definition, from a purely historical point of view, is completely inaccurate, and for a very simple reason: in 1955 the term “Eurovespa” does not yet exist. In fact, it was officially used two years later, in 1957, to define the great international gathering of Barcelona, even if its origin betrays a probable origin of German construction.
However, since the end of the 1950s, these events have been cataloged as “Eurovespa”, and their use has continued to this day. Nothing wrong with that, since the spirit that drives the Vespa is always made, yesterday as today, of the same pasta and the concept combines two terms, “Europe” and “Vespa” which have always shown to get along very well.
On 15 and 16 January 1955, the third meeting of the presidents of the national clubs affiliated to the Vespa Club d’Europe was held at the headquarters of the Vespa Club de France in Paris. The supranational body has already given itself a well-defined structure, with which it can afford to meet any organizational commitment it decides to face. Among the various decisions that are taken, that of the implementation of a large international Rallye in Sanremo, a famous town on the Ligurian Riviera and, for some years, host of the now famous Italian Song Festival. The term Rallye, non-existent in Italian, is the French version of the English “rally”, with which we can identify the synonym of our “meeting, rally”, that is an event in which a high number of people participate, be it sporting or not. Given that the official language of the Vespa Club d’Europe is French (in those years it was much more widespread than English internationally), the definition chosen to be understood by everyone is precisely this, with the final “e”. In the automotive sense, we are all familiar with its use.
It will be the first appointment on the busy international calendar of the year, which will include at least one other important event for each nation affiliated to the VCE, such as the famous Rallye of Stockholm in Sweden or the Audax International Women’s in Milan.
An adequate regulation for the event is discussed and finally drawn up later, officially baptized “Criterium Internazionale Vespistico di Sanremo”. As always binding in every detail, this regulation is signed by all the national Vespa Clubs existing up to that moment (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, England, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Saar (or Sarre, in the French , as it was called by many), Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The event is expected to consist of:
– an optional approach march to the mandatory departure center set up in Aix-en-Provence.
– a regularity march on four timed sections between Aix-en-Provence and Sanremo.
It is mandatory for each competitor that from the location chosen for the departure and arrival in Sanremo the route to be completed is not less than 500 km overall. Each of them is required to have their passage checked by the various crossing centers and indicated in the travel book, in order to show the mileage covered, which must not be less than 200 km, before reaching Aix-en-Provence.
Vespa riders are allowed to leave from any of the following locations (in any case mandatory, in the sense that the starting point of each trip cannot be different from those indicated): from Austria, Vienna and Innsbrück; from Belgium: Brussels; from Denmark: Copenhagen; from France: Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon, Nancy, Nice, Toulon; from West Germany: Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart; from England: London; from Italy: Rome, Turin, Genoa, Milan; from Holland: Amsterdam; from Portugal: Lisbon, Porto; from the Saar: Saarbrücken; from Switzerland: Geneva, Lugano; from Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, San Sebastian; from Sweden: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö.
The departure is granted between 22 and 23 April, and must be validated with a departure stamp from the chosen city by entities belonging to the Vespa world, such as a local Vespa Club or a Piaggio agency.
Any itinerary, left to the free choice of each participant, single or group, must in any case lead to Aix-en-Provence.
However, this competitive event is not the only Vespa event of the long weekend: a large gathering reserved for the Italian Vespa Clubs in the style of the inaugural one in Bologna, held in 1950, is held in the place of arrival. Furthermore, we have also an important meeting of the management of the Vespa Club d’Europe, or the plenary Congress, called to take stock of what has been done in the previous days and to draw up the operational path for the following months.