Vespamania: The Josh Rogers Collection

A visit to an old friend

"Vespamania" is a new format from Piaggio. "Vespa maniacs" from around the world are visited and featured. This episode features Josh Rogers, president of the Vespa Club of America (VCOA). And the visit to his San Jose hideaway is well worth it, as the man has amassed an impressive Vespa collection over the years. Among them are a 1980 P200, a 1974 Primavera, a GS 150 Cushman, and an SS 180, each of which is enough to make you click your tongue. His favorite, however, is an Ape rickshaw from 1956. And which model does he call his "Holy Grail"? Of course, a Vespa 98 from 1946, one of the oldest Vespas in the world according to the registration in the "Registro Storico". A real treasure, one can become jealous.

For us Josh Rogers is by no means a stranger, because Ralf and Moritz met him in 2009 on a tour through the USA to the "Amerivespa" in California. Moritz remembers: "I met Josh for the first time at the Amerivespa 2009 in Santa Cruz. There stood this almost two-meter guy in front of us. At first I thought he was lost and belonged to the local Harley Club. But after the second sentence at the latest, you just have to like this guy. You immediately notice his passion and enthusiasm for the Vespa."

A few years later, Moritz was back in the States and met Josh again, "He did a lot for the Vespa scene in the US. He was editor of SCOOT Magazine and is now president of the VCOA. At his swearing in as president in 2017 in Seattle, I was even able to be there live. Heavily moved and proud, he stood on stage. A gentle giant."

Today, the VCOA has more than 2,000 members and is the umbrella organization for more than 30 other clubs across the pond. Among them are such illustrious names as: Nashville Snakes, Gem City Rollers, Sonoran Sunriders Scooter Club and Thirty Days Scooter Gang. In the last two years, the "Amerivespa annual rally" unfortunately had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, but in June 2022 it is firmly scheduled again in Twin City, Minnesota.

Picture gallery: More of Josh, his Vespas and friends