In 1964 several far sighted members of the Vespa Club of Britain (VCB), which was formed in 1952 and which is by a large margin the oldest scooter club in Britain with an unbroken history, decided to form a club dedicated to preserving early Vespa models.
Thus was born the Veteran Vespa Club, the oldest club dedicated to scooter preservation in Britain if not the world. In the early days the club enjoyed a considerable degree of support from the Douglas factory - the latter building Vespas under license from Piaggio. It was quite usual to see a Douglas service van accompanying club members on their annual run from London to Brighton. Although the Douglas factory has long since closed, the club has inherited some of its functions. It has access to the Douglas archive which includes production and sales records which makes the Veteran Vespa Club the definitive source of information needed to register an old Vespa for the road. The club at one time held the remaining factory spares for these models produced by Douglas. The stock of engine spares for the 125cc models produced prior to 1959 was particularly extensive. So extensive in fact that the club could assemble complete new engines.
Sadly this situation has now changed, nearly all of the spares have been sold off to members, what is left is of little value and has been put in storage. The Veteran Vespa Club continues the long tradition of producing "cog" badges for its rallies, these being widely regarded as the most collectable items of scootering memorabilia. The rallies themselves have a friendly 50's feel to them, and are particularly suitable for families. A quarterly colour magazine is produced full of interesting information. Following a decision made at the 2007 AGM the Club now caters for all geared Vespa models up to and including the PX range