By the early nineteen eighties Piaggio could see that the long-term future of the scooter market –especially the commuter one – would demand a reliable and affordable fully automatic scooter. It was, therefore, imperative that the Vespa be developed in this manner if it was ever to regain the mass market, and not continue its gradual descent into the constraints of the enthusiast one.

For over a decade Piaggio engineers did their level best to adapt the traditional Vespa design to the new world of the future. You can be sure that nobody wanted d’Ascanio’s masterpiece to disappear, and it must have been a bitter pill to swallow when realization came that the small sales of the automatic Vespa were never going to improve and that it was time for another approach.

All 125cc automatics were based on the current normal PK125. The first model PK125S Automatica was introduced in 1983. In 1991, once again there was another raft of styling alterations the same as other PK models – the VVM2T. The headset, speedo and toolbox all changed again, and this time there was a plastic section above the rear light that attempted to disguise the frame shape. There were no significant mechanical changes.