The Colourful Tapestry of Life
There are common experiences which ignite interest in scooters. The usual ones are genres of music, a film, or the influence of our parents, peers, family and friends. Then there are the more ‘unique’ ones, and Tony Jones is a case in point...
Council estates
“I have to be honest; in about 1977 my mother had a lodger, the fella had a Lambretta Li125, which I used to try and nick!” Tony laughed. “To set the record straight though; I never actually nicked the scooter, but it was his scooter that got me interested. Through my childhood I lived on the Buttershaw, Whipsey and Woodside estates in Bradford and I always saw scooters being ridden around where I lived. Also, there were loads of scooter clubs all over Bradford and I had to get involved.”
Break-out
At 16, Tony left school and got himself an Li125. The scooter got messed about with; and he bought other scooters along with a Suzuki A100 motorcycle.
“My scooter was off the road for a while but I still rode around with the scooter lads on the bike, until I ended up crashing it! However, a mate of mine, Roy had an Li125, which was running but it was in the police station at Newton Aycliffe. Roy asked me if I wanted to do a swap for the A100, and of course I nearly bit his hand off!” With the prize of the running Li125 set in his mind, Tony grabbed his helmet and went up to Newton Aycliffe on the train. He made his way to the police station and after some negation with the station Desk-Sergeant the scooter was released to him; he then pushed it to the train station followed by an officer to make sure he didn’t ride it. “I put it on
the train, got it back to Bradford and rode it home, when I got it back Roy saw it and he wanted it back, but there was no chance that was happening!” Tony laughed.
Aspirations
As time passed Tony developed the usual family responsibilities, and professional commitments and took a break from scooter scene. However, in early 2006 he was able to get back into scooter rallies, but there was one problem; he didn’t have a scooter! “As I got back into it I decided to get one, and I bought myself a Vespa PX but I got knocked off it on a ride-out in Baildon in 2010!” Tony didn’t let this phase him; keen to get back on the road again he got himself an LML. But in the back of his mind he’d always wanted a custom paint job for his scooter: “I’d always been interested in the artwork side of things, I’ve got a diploma in art and design, and in the past I’d tried turning my hand to doing a bit of metal-flake and airbrushing. However, I was never a professional but I also did, and still do tattoos for my family and friends.”
T5
Now with the aspiration of getting a custom paint job in his mind the LML wasn’t really cutting it for him, and although he’d flirted with the idea of completing his own paintwork he knew what he really wanted was a professional custom paint job.
In 2015 Tony bought himself a Vespa T5 Classic. “It came originally with a P200 engine, but I managed to find a T5 engine, which me and my son-in-law fitted.” With the mechanical side of things taking shape Tony now needed to find a professional custom sprayer who could complete the artwork he was looking for. “At the beginning of 2018 a friend of mine was having a scooter painted by Gatch. Through my mate I managed to speak to Gatch and I explained to him that I wanted some work doing.”
Theme choices
At the time Tony’s choices of themes for his scooter were varied to say the least: “I thought about all the hobbies, interests and pastimes I’d had. It’s fair to say my mind was all over the place. At one point I’d even thought about having a ‘Pied Piper’ theme because I can play the penny whistle, I used to keep rats as pets, and I used to do a bit of ‘ratting’ with my dogs! I’d even thought about a theme surrounding wizardry, which was also something I’d been interested in the past too!” In the midst of all this confusion Tony took a moment, stood back and tried to focus in on what he’d enjoyed as a kid and what was still very close to his heart.
He went back to his childhood: “I used to really enjoy building model aircraft, but the one I really liked was the Spitfire,” Tony explained. “I was drawn to it because of its aerodynamics, its performance, its achievements, its versatility, and all the different theatres of combat it fought in. It was a no-brainer.”
Glamour
Tony discussed with Gatch about how he could deliver the topic. Tony explained that he wanted Gatch to give the Spitfire theme a twist and add a personal touch, so he asked Gatch to somehow include another one of his interests, but stay connected with the Spitfire theme. Gatch explored Tony’s other pursuits and learnt about his interest in tattoos. “When Gatch heard about this he explained that he had some ideas in his head and suggested how we could blend the two themes. Gatch said that he could put a sequence of Spitfire images fighting in the various theatres of combat along with some tattoo style war-time glamour pin-ups.” Tony explained. “This was exactly the personal touch I was after; and for me, it would give the whole theme a lot more interest rather than it just being a straightforward Spitfire theme.” Gatch got to work and made the blend: On the legshields there is an RAF roundel with a pin-up from the, ‘Keep ’em flying’ style war-bird. The front mudguard displays aircraft shark’s teeth ‘nose-art’. A Spitfire fires up its RollsRoyce engine on the toolbox door. The offside sidepanel shows a Spitfire from the South East Asia Command, and the nearside sidepanel shares murals of a Spitfire in a dogfight with an Me 109 and a, ‘Lady Luck’ war-bird with her special delivery, ‘bombs away’.
A personised build
With the artwork complete Tony and his son-in-law John rebuilt the scooter in Tony’s garage. “The scooter workshop ramp we used to build it on was a hospital bed I’d picked up at a car-boot sale, it worked perfectly!” It has to be said; Tony Jones is a character; he’s a patriot, and he’s also had a front-row seat at the ‘University of Life’. These qualities have given him the luxury of some of the most diverse choices for scooter themes imaginable. In confusing times he kept his focus and he went back to the topics, which meant a lot to him and now he’s got the personalised custom artwork scooter, which he’s always wanted.