Reader’s Ride – Ramie’s ‘Elite’ Vespa
It’s not often you see a custom Vespa with an Elite three-piece hard luggage set, so take a good look, it’ll be a long time until you see another one!
Over the years I have seen and heard many stories behind a plethora of customised Vespas, some of which border on both weird and wonderful. I’ve learnt that there is always a catalyst for a scooter project that hasn’t previously arisen. Like Ramie Stewart and his interesting looking Vespa P-Range with a set of luggage accessories. It was Christened ‘Pizza In A Hurry’ by Ramie, as it is potentially the ultimate fast food delivery scooter.
Secondhand aftermarket accessories, whether used or new old stock are on a parallel with and pretty much mirroring the ever-spiralling market prices of the classic scooters they were designed for. That isn’t only applicable to genuine 50s, 60s or 70s extras either; even rare extras from the 80s and beyond command similarly inflated sums.
When Ramie gets an idea in mind for a scooter project he adopts the mantle of a Terrier going after a bone. In Ramie’s case, with him being a proud Scotsman, that would be a Highland Terrier I’d say. His Pizza In A Hurry project began, not with a P-Range scooter awaiting accessorising, rather it began with a quest to acquire a pair of genuine aftermarket P-Range side pannier, carrier boxes.
“For 20 years I’d been looking for a pair of Elite panniers, made for P-Range Vespas. Despite searching for two decades I’d not managed to locate a pair. With most scooters as well as parts and extras, if I’m looking for something, I let it be known what I’m looking for through a network of friends and acquaintances. I’d passed the word that I wanted a pair of Elite carriers and eventually a pal of mine in Ireland, Raff, put me onto a pair which was up for sale on an auction site. Exactly what I was looking for, so I contacted the seller privately enquiring what he’d take for cash for them to take them off auction.
“To start with the seller wanted the auction to run its full course, but I’d been searching for so long for Elite carriers and I wasn’t going to miss out on this pair so I persisted. I made him a (well into four figures) offer he couldn’t refuse, which he agreed to take and end the auction early. After obtaining the Elite carriers, I literally built a new P-Range from an old frame I had lying about. Everything on the scooter was brand new: fixtures, fittings, the engine, everything apart from the frame, basically a brand new scooter, built and painted by me.
“The 80s body protector bars also took a bit of finding, though nowhere near the mission of finding Elite panniers. In its first incarnation, it was painted Candy red, and it picked up a couple of trophies at shows, most notable being at Kelso National Rally. I wasn’t entirely happy with it when it was Candy red, the engine output suffered majorly with a lack of
aerodynamics so I decided to treat it to a bit of a revamp, which included adding some goodies from SIP. It was completely stripped then repainted pearl flip green.
“I got the back carrier box from Germany for £90. During the revamp, I changed the engine from standard to a Malossi 210 set up along with a few other power improvements. I did the necessary porting and matching myself. Extra power output was an absolute requirement because with its full set of carriers it was akin to riding a two-wheeled wardrobe aerodynamically. Which with a standard engine meant it really was slow.
“The Elite panniers turn out to have a limited carrying capacity. I can just about get a rolled up pair of jeans and pair of trainers in one of them. Whereas the back box, by comparison, has a much bigger capacity. I added some chrome during the revamp, which has enhanced the 80s workhorse appearance. Quick it isn’t, but my daughter Maya Rae cites Pizza In A Hurry as the most comfortable scooter she has ridden pillion on. She should know as she’s ridden pillion at some stage on all of the scooters in my private collection.”
Pizza In A Hurry, while not being an easy scooter to conveniently slot into any style of custom scooter pigeonhole, is an interesting creation. Built for practicalities and comfort, there’s much more in its makeup than initially meets the eye. If you happen upon Pizza In A Hurry out in the wild, take a close look for yourself, you may be there a while, so, do you want fries with that? Words: Sarge
Photographs: Alex Adair