Dave’s Nostalgic Custom Corner – the 50th edition

It’s Dave O’s 50th ‘anniversary’ for custom corner and he come up trumps with this nostalgic classic…The Lady is a Vamp.

This seductive scooter theme comes in the form of 80s sultry suicide blonde Wendy James – lead singer of pop-punk band Transvision Vamp. Now, at the end of that decade, they had several chart hits including I Want Your Love and Baby I Don’t Care; and even a number one album namely Velveteen. The latter single will always have a special place in my favourite scooter memories of that time. After riding nearly two days and 600 miles up to the ‘was it on/off’ Fort William 1989 rally, this song became the chosen jukebox favourite – God knows how many times it got played that weekend! So, back to the scooter, The Lady is a Vamp is still owned by its original builder, which is always a pleasing touch to these articles, and is alive and well in deepest Ilkeston. Now unlike the star subject of the scooter theme, Dougie’s Vespa is still a looker! Yes time has taken its toll on some of the brightwork, but the body is still hot – the lady is still definitely STILL a vamp! Checkout the full spec below and enjoy the nostalgic images, thanks to Doug’s clubmate ‘Boz’ for the history shots. Dave O

Back in the day when some of the campsites weren’t quite up to today’s standard – I’m sure Whitley Bay campsite was a car park and if you arrived late you were on the tarmac! Not good for tent pegs...

Owner: Simon ‘Dougie’ Hartle Hometown: Ilkeston. Scooter Club: Throttle Happy SC. Scooter Name: The Lady Is A Vamp. Year originally built: Bought from Rugeley Scooters brand new in 1989, then customised first in blue and then rebuilt in red following write off accident on way back from Blackpool rally 1990. Paintwork: John Spurgeon. Engine: Stock. Fabrication: Twisted forks. Chrome/Engraving: Engraving by Don Blocksidge and chrome by the late (great) Pete Robinson. What have you had done to it or plan to do since owning: Unfortunately the paint and chrome have suffered a bit over the years, mainly through poor storage and lack of garage. When time allows, I do hope to get it back to how it was.

Do you still do rallies: Apart from a local scooter event I now visit Air Cooled VW events which do generally have a scooter section. What other scooters do you own: None any more. Funny stories either about scooter or yourself at rallies (80s-90s): Plenty of stories from the dozens of rallies done in the 80s and 90s but most are unsuitable for print… However, three are fairly tame! One particular funny story (although it wasn’t at the time) was when we ran out of petrol a few miles short of Fort William – I think it was 1989/90 and we decided to spend the night in the freezing cold in our sleeping bags outside a hostel – only to find out in the morning that they keep the back door unlocked all night just in case anyone gets stuck out overnight. We never thought to check the back door! I’ve just remembered an incident at Margate 1990 – following a tyre change the old tyre was deposited over an adjacent fence – rolling onto a private tennis court during a game which was on the other side! Also remember back in the day when some of the campsites weren’t quite up to today’s standard – I’m sure Whitley Bay campsite was a car park and if you arrived late you were on the tarmac! Not good for tent pegs...

Favourite event ever: Margate & Fort William Rallies – the Scots were always welcoming.

Favourite custom scooter ever: Rhapsody & Blues – Pete Robinson Favourite dealer: Rugeley Scooters. Anything else you’d like to add or think is relevant:

While my first automotive love will always be aircooled scooters, my spare time is now spent on air-cooled VWs. I’ve a small collection of Buses and Beetles, including a ’65 splitscreen bus and a ’74 beetle convertible. I think with age – and two young kids – you just get more practical (and unfortunately sensible).