First sold in 2013, the 946 scooter features a throwback design anchored on the 1946 Vespa MP6. Motivated by a 125-cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke engine with three valves, this Vespa’s power plant is air-cooled and boasts an electronic injection system.
Vespa (which is Italian for “wasp”) is manufactured by Pontedera-headquartered Piaggio, which reported that the “ultra-modern (vehicle) consumes minimal fuel, makes very little noise and boasts exceptionally low emissions levels.” Performance aside, a self-evident truth is that the 946 looks beautiful. Its retro styling harks back to a simpler, perhaps less-worried and complicated world.
Last week, official local distributor MotoItalia Philippines took the wraps off the newest variant of the 946 – an alluring all-red version that is not only eye-catching but, well, heart-warming as well. Formally dubbed the (Vespa 946) Red, US$150 (or approximately P7,500) from the sale of each unit will go “towards initiatives fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria,” according to a company release. What does a US$150 donation mean? It translates to “over 500 days’ worth of life-saving medical treatments for HIV and help prevent mothers infected with the virus from passing it on to their unborn children.”
Established in 2006 by U2 vocalist Bono and activist Bobby Shriver “to harness the power of people and companies to help fight AIDS,” Red has partnered with big international brands which have contributed up to 50 percent of their profits to The Global Fund, an organization “designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics.”
This kitty has, to date, totalled more than US$500 million. Grants that Red has supported “have impacted nearly 110 million with prevention, treatment, counselling, HIV testing, and care services” in countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia, reported red.org. Significantly, the organization asserts that 100 percent of the money it receives “goes to work on the ground; no overhead is taken.”
In a speech at the Vespa Philippines showroom in Bonifacio Global City, Autohub Group of Companies president Willy Tee Ten said, “I’m very pleased to know that we’re aligned with some of the big-brand companies in supporting the battle (against) HIV.”
Meanwhile, MotoItalia general manager Miguelito Jose extolled the scooter’s values, such as being in the top of its class for “efficient fuel consumption and (low) emissions” and having “full LED projectors and indicator lights, along with a full-LCD instrument panel.” The special 946 has also been equipped with a red scooter bag designed specifically for it – handcrafted in Italy and rendered in the same leather as the scooter saddle.
The (Vespa 946) Red’s bodywork is in steel, complemented by aluminum components such as the mudguard and the side covers, which also serve to house and support the engine, the transmission, and all the scooter’s mechanical parts. A mudguard at the front (also in aluminum) is fixed over a 12-inch wheel. To ensure maximum safety, a double disc-type brake system is complemented by a dual-channel ABS system, while ASR traction control prevents the rear wheel from skidding – the last being a Piaggio Group-exclusive feature.
The (Vespa 946) Red is priced at P777,000, and will be a limited release.