The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Waterloo businessman plans to bring Vespa dealership to the area little touch of Italy is A:oming to the region his month. with power. style and affordable pricing. Wolfgang Koehler, of Waterloo, said he is working to bring Vespa Kâ€"W to life and he hopes to have the dealership up and running within the next two weeks. The Vespa motor scooter will soon be available in the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo area after an 18â€"year absence from Canada. "It‘s for people wanting something different to drive. wanting something fun to drive," Koehler said. Koehler, who is the serâ€" vice and parts manager at Kâ€"W Mitsubishi Motors in Kitchener, said he is workâ€" ing to organize Vespa Kâ€"W with Mike Alkier, who is the owner of the scooter dealerâ€" ship, and also the owner of the Mitsubishi dealership, Cambridge Volkswagen and a Mercedesâ€"Benz dealership on Victoria Street. Koehler said he wants to sell the scooters because he enjoys them and wants more people to share the experience. \"It‘s easy to drive, easy to park and easy to operate." he said. Since the creation of Vespa in 1946, more than 16 million scooters have been manufactured. ‘A touch of Italy‘ "After the Second World War, when Italy was devastâ€" ed by the wrath. Piaggio By Ti Murery For The Chronucle BEST COPY AVAILABLE came up with Vespa, just to get people in Italy moving again." â€" Vespa scooters stopped selling in Canada in 1986 after tough emissionsâ€"conâ€" trol legislation targeting twoâ€"stroke motors came into effect. BUSI] The modern, redesigned engines meet or exceed Canadian standards, and are being imported by Canadiâ€" an Scooter Corp., the excluâ€" sive Canadian importer and distributor of Vespa scootâ€" ers. There are approximately 7 mm/15 Year SALE CHERRY LAMINATE ‘T2" | °P‘ | *12"" KRONO NFESS 20 dealers of the scooter in Canada who sell and service Vespas. Koehler said the scooters are very userâ€"friendly, as they have automatic transâ€" missions and a fuel econoâ€" my starting at 3.6 litres per 100 kms. 7 mm/ 15 Year BEECH KRONO SALE Koehler said the biggest difficulty in starting the dealership was trying to sell the lifestyle of a Vespa. "It‘s like the Mercdes Benz of scooters," he said. "We want to create as much of an Italian feel to it as we can," he said. "We want to embrace the Vespa heritage, and try to build that into our store." He said the dealership, located at 300 Homer Watâ€" son Blvd., Kitchener, will feature a fullâ€"service centre selling all the needed parts and accesories. "Everybody can afford a Vespa, they‘re not that expensive." Koehler‘s dealership will feature three different Vespa models, the ET2, ET4 and the Grandturismo. The sellâ€" ing price for a Vespa starts at about $4,200. The Vespa ET4 has a 150 cc fourâ€"stroke engine while the ET2 has a smaller 50 cc twoâ€"stroke engine. The Grandturismo has a 4â€" stroke 200cc liquidâ€"cooled engine. "I think in this day and age while the fuel prices going up as high as they are, insurance isn‘t going down, and cars are getting more expensive, they make sense," he said. The Vespa has a strong celebrity fan base, with infaâ€" mous owners, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mil Jovovich and Steven S pj berg. and has been f in the movie Austin P "It‘s like a fashiot ment owning one of 8 mm/20 Year SALE OXFORD OAK BE" _PY AV:.: _ (s3lLE KRONO Koehler said, stating that people concoct images of 1960s movie stars when they think of Vespas. "There‘s a nostalgic feel, because it‘s been around for a long time," he said. The Vespa was designed by aeronautical engineer Corradino D‘Ascanio in 1946 for the Piaggio compaâ€" ny. While climbing onto the first Vespa scooter, Enrico Piaggio said, "It looks like a wasp," and the name was born. Vespa is Italian for wasp. Koehler said the median age for Vespa ownership is usually 30 to 50 years old, but many younger adults are buying the scooters. "I think younger people find the attraction, because they‘re brought up being environmentally friendly, and this is an environmenâ€" tally friendly way of travelâ€" ling," he said. He said he is going to be organizing a Vespa gatherâ€" ing every Tuesday for ownâ€" ers to come out and have a tour around the region with their fellow Vespa owners. He also said he would be trying to organize a monthly weekend drive to places like Elora or Niagaraâ€"onâ€"theâ€" Lake. _ avesiiates.wos "We‘r 3"3_"1