Last night I rode in the rain with the Vintage scooter Club of Victoria to the Westgarth Cinema to see 'Forever Vespa' as part of the Italian Film Festival.

From memory there was a Super , a sprint, a Bajaj/sidecar combo, A beautifully restored mid-50's vespa, a mongrel tuned vespa (mine), a P2, a GL and two loverly lammies. Frank Tonon's lads (Vespa House) were out in force on an ET4 and GTS 250.

The festivel organisers looked after us with a fancy sash guarding a prime parking spot. After being treated to a show bag with some coffee, DVD's etc we sat down for the show. The vintage club was acknowledged and a special welcome was made to Frank and his family for being the first Vespa dealership in town (1956).

The film was well worth seeing, and I recommend having your Vespa outside the cinema ready to ride after youare immersed in the history and tradition of the little beast.

All the books and websited in the world can't replace the moving images of the Vespa designer actually sketching the shape while explaining each line. Priceless. I had no idea that at one stage this guy made a helicopter that held the world record for distance travelled in such a machine. Fascinating.

Anyway, I write this knowing that the festival is yet to go to many of the other states, so do yourself a favour and get your clubmates off their arses and make the effort. It is well worth it.

cheers

derek

http://www.italianfilmfestival.com.au/films.aspx?film=fv