Marc Blanks is a VVC member in Australia and responded to my request to overseas members for news on what’s occurring in their part of the world. Marc has a few stories to share and I’m hopeful we’ll be hearing more from him in the near future. For now though..

“The Vespa Club of Melbourne's annual two-stroke blue-smoke ride is an event to celebrate older classic geared scooters. Although hosted by the Vespa Club of Melbourne (Australia’s largest scooter club with 400+ members) all marques are welcome – previous rides have included Lambretta, Heinkel, Maicoletta, Puch, Rabbit and of course Vespa, including the entire PX Vespa range. Older scooters are encouraged.

A varied age range of Vespa P-Range/PX models were present…

This ride is badged as a Vespa Day using the Vespa World Club cog patch to acknowledge the club’s connection to a larger sister and brotherhood of Vespa owners across the globe.

The event begun appropriately with a leisurely breakfast and coffee at the Park St Café in the heart of Melbourne’s traditional Italian heartland, Carlton. The sound and smell of two stroke set the scene for the day and formed a great display on the boulevard. After everyone was fed and caffeinated, the ride route ventured north out of Melbourne to the scenic bushland setting of Hurstbridge via Nutfield. Most of the ride was on quiet sealed semi-rural roads with little traffic; ideal for the 40 classic scooters participating. Most of the scooters coped well with the route and there were some lovely bends through the bushland setting as the group left the built-up areas. The route from Carlton North to Hurstbridge is in total around 57-kms and took about 1.5 hours. Upon arrival at Ferguson’s Paddock in Hurstbridge we were greeted by a lovely catered lunch followed by an organised 30-km return route to Ivanhoe. Pete, the van man, swept the route at the rear of the ride and ably gave support when required. There were a number of prizes awarded shortly after lunch including.

• Best Restored Classic Vespa

• Best Restored Other Marque Scooter

• Best Unrestored Scooter - lots of scratches, original paint and patina please

• Most Unusual or Rare Scooter

• Best Dressed Rider for the Era

Love this State of Victoria sticker on a very nice original condition VBA…

..originally supplied by Vespa House in Melbourne.

Beautiful Vespa VB1T - the Douglas built version of this scooter was named the ‘Clubman’…

Faded but still visible Vespa dealer sticker on VB1T carb door.

Participating in the event were a good assortment of classic scooters. The oldest being Rolf Graunke’s 1947 Ape - which hauled up the hills like a tractor. Veteran Vespa Club members were in attendance; me on my 1951 original paint Douglas Rod and John Keddie riding his immaculately restored 1959 VBA. Other scooters of note included a splendid series 2 Lambretta TV175, A tuned up VB1 some GL, VBB and VBC models, an ET3, lots of Vespa Supers and a veritable cornucopia of P range models.