No License Required For This Tiny Vespa

Vespa has launched a new set of mini scooters aimed at bringing more people into the two-wheeled fold. The lineup of 50 cc scooters will be speed limited to 30 mph, allowing them to be ridden with only a driver’s license in 16 states.

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That means if you live in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, or Wisconsin you will not need a separate motorcycle license to ride one.

Vespa will offer two distinct models of the mini-scoot: the $3,999 the 2020 Vespa Primavera 50cc Limited Speed and the $4,099 Vespa Sprint 50cc Limited Speed. Colors for the Primavera are Bianco Innocenza, Nero Vulcano, Rosso Passione, Blu Energia, and Verde Relax (AKA white, black, red, blue, and green).

Gallery: Tiny Vespa Sprint and Primavera 50cc

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The Sprint can be had in Bianco Innocenza, Nero Vulcano, Rosso Passione, Giallo Estate (white, black, red, and yellow). It is the slightly more modern version of the two otherwise identical scooters, with a rectangular headlight instead of the rounder one of the Primavera. Both have a speed-limited 3.2 horsepower 49cc single, powering the rear wheel via  Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).

Both have a low, 31.1 inch seat height, and diminutive 73.6-inch wheelbase. The 2.1 gallon fuel tank is good for over 160 miles of range at an average mileage of 80.9 miles per gallon.

Of course, performance stats aren’t the cool part of these scooters. The “Vespa” part is the cool part of these Vespas. By opening up the audience to riders with no motorcycle license in some states the Italian brand has made it easier for people to own a “real” Vespa who might otherwise have been looking to the Vespa knock-off e-bikes and e-scooters that are popping up everywhere.

It’s a smart move from a brand that has always represented an affordable, easy-riding, quirky sense of cool.