Modern Vespa

That pretty much sums it up. I went as far as disconnecting the second steel cable from the pulley above the air filter and pulling on it directly hoping it will release the latch but it won't budge. I can rock the Vespa by pulling on the cable but the latch mechanism is completely nonresponsive. I have no idea what happened but I'm guessing installing the rear bars might have been a factor as I had to push the seat just a bit for the release to work in the last several days before it stopped working completely.

I was able to remove the 4 bolts at the hinge and can lift the front of the seat enough to slide my hand into the pet carrier but that's about it. Pushing on the seat, moving it sideways while pulling on the release cable does nothing.
Any suggestions before a I take a saw to the plastic latch?

See:
seat lock jammed? GTS 250 (Post 2612291)

Thank you jimc.

Once you get it opened, try placing washers under the seat lock on the bolts of course. This slight increase in elevation would likely eliminate the problem.
Says Tony who is still procrastinating about doing it on my ,24 GTS