*NEWSBITES
MILAN – Just in time for the holidays, an 84-year-old Milan resident has been reunited with his…Vespa.
The classic Italian scooter, a Vespa 50 Special, which had been stolen in Milan 35 years ago, was found in Sicily (more than 900 miles to the south) on a routine police roadside check near the village of Buccheri.
The man was 49-years-old when he bought the white 50 Special, among the most popular models of the 1970s, still considered an icon of Italian design with its long saddle for two seats, and the box on one side. The recovered vehicle was in surprisingly good condition, despite a bit of rust and part of the box missing.
Police called the home of the registered owner, whose son answered. “My dad will be happy,” he said. Indeed the holiday reunion story has one last serendipitous nugget: though he’s lived in Milan since his youth, the victim is a native of the Sicilian city of Catania, just up the road from where his long-lost scooter was found.
Read more in Italian from La Stampa
Photo – Jen Camera