Celebrate its engineering origins is the new Vespa “Officina 8” Special Edition, a reference to its post-war Experimental Department in the Piaggio plant in Pontedera, Italy. Officina, meaning workshop or works in Italian, in this case refers to section of the Piaggio factory where designers, draftsmen, mechanics, master metalworkers and test riders worked to produce ground breaking scooters.
Officina 8 was where new ideas came to life, where the workshop saw the design and subsequent prototyping of the first Vespa, both for mass production and for racing and breaking records. The personnel of Officina 8 were set apart from the factory floor with a blue and brass “Piaggio 8” pin, designed to be worn on their work overalls and indicating they worked in the most secret and envied department in the factory.
Today, the Officina 8 designation is applied to a special range of Vespa scooters, the Primavera and GTv 310, clad in a distinctive Blu Officina 8 colour. The special matte metallic finish in industrial blue evokes an industrial ethos, notably in the work wear of the Piaggio factory workers.
The blue is accented by aluminium in the shield, headlight and rear light surrounds, as well as brass used in the the steering cover grille and wheel rims. The wheels are diamond-cut to further accentuate the looks of the Officina 8.
This attention to detail is continued on in dual-upholstered saddle, finished with double contrasting stitching, while the polished brass rivets throw back to the Officina 8’s hand-engineering tradition. Every Officina 8 comes with a welcome kit, a tin container in the colours of this Special Edition, which contains the Owner’s Book.
