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ozens of people parked their old scooters in an orderly formation at a shopping mall'€™s parking area on Sunday afternoon.

One of them is 20-year-old Faizal Reza, who rides a dark blue '€™87 PS 150 Vespa Strada with red stripes on its rear side. Faizal said he did not expect to see that many young people at the Vespa gathering, as he thought most Vespa riders were men above 40.

'€œI thought my friend and I would be the youngest here, but I see an even younger boy who rides a rare Vespa over there,'€ Faizal told The Jakarta Post at the recent gathering of classic Vespa enthusiasts in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The university student said he started to ride a Vespa as soon as he obtained his driving license, adding that the hobby ran in the family since his late grandfather started it.

'€œIt is like a family hobby to us, thankfully it is not an expensive one,'€ Faizal said, adding that he had convinced his friends to ride Vespas as well.

Akasa Ronny Jatmiko, 40, said riding a Vespa was about more than using a vehicle to get from one place to another; for him it was a culture and a way of life.

'€œYou cannot own a Vespa and just abandon it, at least most Vespa owners I know are of the proud type,'€ Akasa, who came to the event from Ciledug in Tangerang with his Vespa club members.

Akasa said he had been a proud Vespa owner for 25 years and one of the most senior members in his club, Scooter Hell Rider, the oldest scooter club in Ciledug.

According to him, Vespa clubs are among the most friendly vehicle communities in Jakarta, and the drivers did not hesitate to honk or waive at other Vespa riders, even strangers.

He went on to say that his loyalty to the Italian brand was once tested when he got a used '€˜97 Yamaha RX King, a motorcycle with one of the largest fan bases in Indonesia. '€œHowever, I did not feel the thrill and decided to sell it a month later and buy another Vespa,'€ he said.

Manufactured by Piaggio, Vespas have been built since 1946 and enjoyed huge success in the late 1940s. The first Vespa club in Europe was established in 1952, and others popped up in India, Brazil and Indonesia, once Vespa penetrated the country'€™s market in the 1960s.

After suspending the distribution in Indonesia for more than 10 years, Vespa returned to the national market on Aug. 11. Unlike in the past when Vespa was imported from Italy, the new scooters are imported from Vietnam, where Piaggio has set up a manufacturing base.

Sofian, 58, a former employee at a Vespa and motorcycle shop, said he found the old scooters had lower maintenance costs and their engines were much easier to repair.

'€œTherefore, most Vespa owners could fix things themselves. We did not need to go to the workshop, unless there was a serious problem,'€ he said.

However, Sofian said he did not see a similar affection to the scooter'€™s new generation, which according to him had deviated from its roots since it was manufactured in Vietnam.

'€œThe old Vespa, and every single part of it, is manufactured in Italy. The engine is better and more durable,'€ he said, adding that earlier this year he rode his own Vespa for more than 1,000 kilometers from Jakarta to Bali.

'€œMe and my friends spent three days on the road, and we did not experience a single problem with our old rides.'€