The Vespas Of Pakistan
As Chinese-made motorbikes flood Pakistan's roads, fans of vintage Vespa scooters are scrambling to find spare parts and preserve models that hark back to a bygone era.
![A Vespa rider weaves through traffic in a working class neighborhood of Karachi. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/00082ec2-e828-4f20-bf53-8be002f3d864_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Vespa rider weaves through traffic in a working class neighborhood of Karachi.
![Journalist Arif Balouch, 48, poses for a photograph with his 1980 Vespa in Karachi. "For me, a Vespa scooter is like a family tradition. My father used to ride this and I myself find this very good as it has two separate comfortable seats which is uncommon; it has a compartment to keep things, which is also uncommon; and for safety it guards your knees during accidents. I would say it's the BMW of scooters," Balouch told Reuters.](https://gdb.rferl.org/0f84aa11-50c7-4e4b-ab73-452c111f07f7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Journalist Arif Balouch, 48, poses for a photograph with his 1980 Vespa in Karachi. "For me, a Vespa scooter is like a family tradition. My father used to ride this and I myself find this very good as it has two separate comfortable seats which is uncommon; it has a compartment to keep things, which is also uncommon; and for safety it guards your knees during accidents. I would say it's the BMW of scooters," Balouch told Reuters.
![The emblem from a Vespa in a restoration and repair shop in Islamabad. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/61bb4f98-1ed7-4b28-908f-b18ffddd8276_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The emblem from a Vespa in a restoration and repair shop in Islamabad.
![Journalist Nazeer Udding Siddiqui, 58, poses for a photograph with his 1979 Vespa in Karachi. "For me, people who own Vespas are very honorable people who still keep this tradition alive," he told Reuters. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/aa8a08c5-63a4-4f84-86fd-0bf015f864d8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Journalist Nazeer Udding Siddiqui, 58, poses for a photograph with his 1979 Vespa in Karachi. "For me, people who own Vespas are very honorable people who still keep this tradition alive," he told Reuters.
![Vespa parts inside a restoration shop in Islamabad. Vespa means "wasp" in Italian, a name reportedly adopted thanks to the scooters' thin waist and antenna-like handlebars. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/b3a958ca-ca2c-437a-988c-82e6d79009e9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Vespa parts inside a restoration shop in Islamabad. Vespa means "wasp" in Italian, a name reportedly adopted thanks to the scooters' thin waist and antenna-like handlebars.
![Members of a Vespa riders' club gather at sunrise in Lahore. Piaggio's classic Italian two-wheeler was the ultimate status symbol for Pakistani bike aficionados in the 1960s and 70s when only a handful of people could afford the elegant machines.](https://gdb.rferl.org/4703fbb6-ebd9-4175-9ad2-505bb808b45a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Members of a Vespa riders' club gather at sunrise in Lahore. Piaggio's classic Italian two-wheeler was the ultimate status symbol for Pakistani bike aficionados in the 1960s and 70s when
only a handful of people could afford the elegant machines.
only a handful of people could afford the elegant machines.
![A restorer (center) chats with customers while applying an undercoat to a Vespa panel.](https://gdb.rferl.org/f0c96e71-0d7f-44f6-b704-57cba6cbfcbd_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A restorer (center) chats with customers while applying an undercoat to a Vespa panel.
![Engine parts and tools cover the engine restoration table at a Vespa restoration and repair workshop in Islamabad.](https://gdb.rferl.org/ba0888c9-86df-46de-a378-dc485f9a711b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Engine parts and tools cover the engine restoration table at a Vespa restoration and repair workshop in Islamabad.
![A vividly painted Vespa in a repair shop in Islamabad. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/8ebdb155-7368-415a-9116-663eb3eb3531_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A vividly painted Vespa in a repair shop in Islamabad.
![A shopkeeper and Vespa enthusiast holds his collection of mini Vespas at his auto-parts shop in Karachi. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/6e895bda-4b0a-4dd5-8c79-e64f46ccb1ba_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A shopkeeper and Vespa enthusiast holds his collection of mini Vespas at his auto-parts shop in Karachi.
![A worker sprays a restored mudguard for a scooter at a Vespa restoration and repair workshop in Islamabad.](https://gdb.rferl.org/0dc9ba84-7e50-4c09-827d-9ba83508e16f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A worker sprays a restored mudguard for a scooter at a Vespa restoration and repair workshop in Islamabad.
![A man poses with an old Vespa. A member of Lahore's Vespa fan club told Reuters "Vespas were the second-best gift Italy gave to the world -- first being pizza."](https://gdb.rferl.org/4953adb6-6fc4-4827-a62f-1b98bdd79464_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man poses with an old Vespa. A member of Lahore's Vespa fan club told Reuters "Vespas were the second-best gift Italy gave to the world -- first being pizza."