Where else but Italy can you find such gorgeous old scooters like Piaggio's, Vespa's and Lambretta's? They were made for the small streets of Italy and its busy city. Whats more, these old scooters were not only pretty, but were cheap and fun to drive. The sentimental value of these scooters to their owners is also second to none.

The problem with that is most of these old roundabouts were made back when emissions wasn't considered an issue, and technologies of the time were not as they are today. Sure they are gas-sippers, but the older scooters on Italian roadways are powered by 2-stroke engines, which are more polluting than newer 4-stroke models. Emissions laws were nonexistent back then, and catalytic convertors were decades away.

To help remove these polluting scooters, the Italian government will be offering a 300 Euro bonus to trade in your old scooter for a new one.

The hope is that pollution levels will decrease as the older fleet of scooters currently on the road is replaced with a new, cleaner one.

Hopefully there will be alternatives and catalytic converter retrofits for them so we won't lose all of those gorgeous scooters that are a staple of Italy's past and present. "A Roman Holiday" can prove that.

Here is the Forbes article: http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/02/20/afx4673586.html

That's a nice incentive by the Italian Government.
Great article, thanks for posting Dan!

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