The covers are apparently popular in Italy and France, allowing riders to keep dry and warm in bad weather, without needing winter kit. The Vespa design is specifically made to fit neatly and snugly on the metal-bodied LX and GT scooters.

V is for Vespa. The Italian motor scooter company’s latest pitch is, “Stretch that single gallon of gas a week or more” — around 65 miles to the gallon. “We’ve gone from selling one, two, three a week to that many a day,” says Bill Rush, who opened Little Rock’s Vespa dealership earlier this year.

Most people are looking for a way to zip around economically, he says. (And maybe hoping to look as breezy as Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck did on their scooter in Roman Holiday).