Photo: Bel & Bel
The Vespa scooter is one of those iconic vehicles that can stand next to the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing or the Jaguar E-Type without feeling the least overwhelmed. And just because it's Italian, you can add the old Fiat 500 to the list as well.
The modern vehicles aren't necessarily any better than other scooters out there, but even though others have slightly copied its design, there's still nothing that even begins to compare to the original. It's one of those brands where you can't use reason to explain why it's got the success it has - it's something you have to feel with your heart.
And the best way to do this is during a warm summer night when you're cruising through an Italian town with a girl you just met having no idea where you're going, but enjoying every passing mile and every flying second. I'm sorry, Honda or Yamaha, I know you probably make better machines than the Piaggio-built Vespa, but you can't get that on one of your scooters.
However, it's this love for their Vespas that the Italians have that's turning their streets into loud and polluted places at rush-hour, making all the magic we've been talking about up to this point seem irrelevant. But you can't just scrap a Vespa, just like you can't willingly chop off your right arm. And yet, sometimes they need to go.
A Spanish studio (the irony, right?) called Bel & Bel is gathering old Vespa scooters and transforming them into something else. By taking as many parts as possible from the decommissioned Vespas, Bel & Bel handcrafts them into these wonderful swivel chairs. In spite of the retro design, these pieces of furniture come with all the modern amenities you'd expect, including a reclining function or a hydraulic piston for height adjustment. The upholstery is faux leather, so it's more durable and easier to care for.
At this moment, you're looking at the pictures and are starting to get a little worried: they look great, but just how expensive is one of these? Well, you're going to have to ask, so if you're really interested you can head over to the Bel & Bel website. The studio says that the chairs can be customized to client’s wishes, which is the kind of feature associated with premium products. We have a hunch that they're pretty expensive, so you might be better off just buying an actual scooter if owning a Vespa is what you're after. But don't tell Bel & Bel we said that.
And the best way to do this is during a warm summer night when you're cruising through an Italian town with a girl you just met having no idea where you're going, but enjoying every passing mile and every flying second. I'm sorry, Honda or Yamaha, I know you probably make better machines than the Piaggio-built Vespa, but you can't get that on one of your scooters.
However, it's this love for their Vespas that the Italians have that's turning their streets into loud and polluted places at rush-hour, making all the magic we've been talking about up to this point seem irrelevant. But you can't just scrap a Vespa, just like you can't willingly chop off your right arm. And yet, sometimes they need to go.
A Spanish studio (the irony, right?) called Bel & Bel is gathering old Vespa scooters and transforming them into something else. By taking as many parts as possible from the decommissioned Vespas, Bel & Bel handcrafts them into these wonderful swivel chairs. In spite of the retro design, these pieces of furniture come with all the modern amenities you'd expect, including a reclining function or a hydraulic piston for height adjustment. The upholstery is faux leather, so it's more durable and easier to care for.
At this moment, you're looking at the pictures and are starting to get a little worried: they look great, but just how expensive is one of these? Well, you're going to have to ask, so if you're really interested you can head over to the Bel & Bel website. The studio says that the chairs can be customized to client’s wishes, which is the kind of feature associated with premium products. We have a hunch that they're pretty expensive, so you might be better off just buying an actual scooter if owning a Vespa is what you're after. But don't tell Bel & Bel we said that.
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