The Vespa Officina 8 Goes Back To The Brand’s Early Days

Vespa knows how to honour its history, and it’s back at the vintage name game in 2025. This time, it’s with two new models that recall the company’s post-World War II R&D office that built one-off machines that were headed for racing, or for production. In Canada, we’ll get the Vespa Primavera 50 iGET and GTV 310 both in special trim celebrating the Officina 8 division that functioned as a sort of “skunk works” division for Piaggio Group.

Here’s how Vespa describes Officina 8’s function in those early days:

Officina 8 was where new ideas, including the most revolutionary, first came to life: the workshop saw the design and subsequent prototyping of the first Vespa, both for mass production and for racing and breaking records. The cut-outs for the metal workers, the special chassis models and the sand casting for the experimental engines were all created in-house. The prototype was then handed over to the road testers, who covered tens of thousands of kilometres on these bikes before deciding which to put into production, or which new competition vehicles to build. This is where the elegant lines and timeless style of the Vespa were born.

Vespa outfitted their workers from this division with a blue-and-brass pin emblazoned with the words “Piaggio 8” to identify workers from this department, where only authorized development engineers, mechanics, designers and testers were allowed.

It might sound all hush-hush, but they had good reason to want to keep everything secretive: They were winning races at the same time that they were introducing best-selling machines. In 1950 alone, Vespa set 17 world records for speed and endurance; in 1951, they set a record for the flying kilometre. They introduced the 98 Corsa racing scooter at this time, as well as off-roaders for the International Six Days Enduro competition—all the hard work of Officina 8.

The new Officina 8 special-edition models are gussied-up takes on the Vespa Primavera 50 and GTV 310, both coming in Blue Officina 8 paint with satin-finish metal accents, including aluminum and brass trim. The saddle comes with double-contrasted stitching and polished brass rivets. The sporty bar-end mirrors come in matte black, matching other details on the scoot.

In other words: These special-edition machines are all about the looks, not performance upgrades. The GTV 310 still makes 25 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 21 pound-feet of torque at 5,250 rpm, while the Primavera 50 iGet engine still makes 4.3 horsepower at 8,250 rpm and 2.8 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. So, far from the racing machines of the original Officina 8 crew, but at least Vespa will throw in a reproduction blue-and-brass pin to make you feel like you’re one of the old-time go-fast gang.

Other markets will also get the Primavera 125 in Officina 8 trim, but that’s not coming here to Canuckistan.

MSRP for the Officina 8 models is $5,045 for the 50 and $9,395 for the 310, with both models expected in Canada in August.