Sabrina: Soul Rebel
A scooter created on a shoestring, but built and ridden with a passion. Christian explores the story behind... Soul Rebel.
It was a hot day in Roma when Sabrina and I met in the centre of Monteverde suburb, a big smile welcomed me and my notebook, eyes hidden behind a slight touch of make-up were looking with apprehension and possible questions. I had the feeling Sabrina was waiting for such an encounter her entire life, because as we joined a table inside a ‘Gelateria’ her conversation was quick and nervous. Music, Lambretta lifestyle, travel, joy of riding, you name it… she discussed it. Endless information seasoned along with quotes, winks and giggles released in less than five minutes while I had barely the time to write a single note about my first impression.
The coastal storm in which I was trapped ended up being so strong that I pressed toward scheduling a new appointment within her house, fifty km North Roma. “Christian, I want to be clear with you, I am not a gal who wants ‘Pin-Up’ pictures, I use my Lambretta daily with no mercy, but I make sure she returns inside my kitchen after every trip,” she reported. There it was, the glimpse of a story to follow. A few days later I travelled near CerveteriLadispoli to meet again with the owner, designer and rider of Soul Rebel. Next to an outside alley, protected by a front door door, a black ‘n’ n’ red machine was waiting to greet me. “My scooter adventure began at 15 years old when I had not a clear idea about myself in the two-wheel community. Everything changed because of a friend of mine,” Sabrina narrated as we passed nearby the Lambretta parked in her kitchen. “A turmoil moment occurred when we first met. He was riding a scooter fitted with dozens of mirrors and when we met I mocked him at the first sight. I was wearing a studded jacket, and he a gr reen Parka. I must admit that his figure ha ad something curios and interesting which w made me reflect back during the fo ollowing weeks. Most important of all th hough, we liked different music… and in th hat period of my life, music comparison was w my method of evaluation. This factor was, w to me, a matter of deep study. We slowly began to read and get informed on related topics. Clash, Rolling Stones versus v The Who, The Beatles and Northern N Soul were my internal eddies for a while.”
Surrounded by walls covered in scooter pictures, p I wondered how bad this girl wanted w to share her personal two-strokes
adventure. So I decided, for that time only, to embrace the information which was about to thunder over my head and kept my mouth shut, I posed no questions. Coffee was served and she continued: “It’s incredible how a random encounter changed my life, the famous movie too (needless to say which one), because from that moment on I perpetually loved and welcomed the Lambretta world. My hair changed, wardrobe refreshed and ready for the most important feature, I sapped all my savings – from tons of random jobs – and bought for 150,000 Italian Lire a pea-green Li Lambretta, which to me was the most marvellous thing ever. Step-by-step trips to the hardware store began to grow, proportionally to the will of customisation. I was poor and coming out from a social services house so spray painting my steed was exciting enough to call me a scooter girl. I hated the so-called ‘modette’. Riding behind the handlebars, and not behind a boy’s arse, was my first clear and cardinal idea, which at the same time was a weak point due to a total technical incapability.”
Despite Sabrina avoiding eye contact for most of the time, she stared at me for this one piece of information, as if desiring a certainty in my comprehension. “It was 1987 and Rimini rally was about to happen. Since the destination was pretty much the only one in whole Italy where scooter boy, mods and skinheads were attending, I fought the roads from Roma, biting the ‘Via Aurelia’ dust toward Emilia
Romagna. Street map in hand, my trip companions and I got lost a hundred times and faced the troubles with a smile, minimal money and a sleeping bag. Drugs were part of the equation as well.” A shadow darkened Sabrina’s face and her piercing nestled beneath the lower lip danced a bit as if titillated by some shadows past. “This was a milestone in my scooter life. As a matter of fact, it turned in an endless will to attend, and participate in, scooter rallies. Somebody reported the time as the Italian golden era, scooter boys regrouping from afar were considered heroes, and nobody wore ‘event-bracelets’ like these modern ‘village vacations’. Later my life permitted more freedom to explore the custom spare part dilemma, so I took a flight and landed in London. There were no custom dealer shops in Italy then, and if they did, nothing counted for real. I spent my first three salaries on juicy bits. Only problem was counterfoil in which I had to pay my parts. Back home the postman lost the receipt and he could not read English, despite I had payed already he demanded money. A pickle that generated a semi-riot between me and the Central Post Office where I went to protest.”
Sabrina continued: “The climax to higher and higher scooter achievements reached a peak and then it all suddenly stopped due to my marriage and the decision to become a mother. This was my first scootering ‘standstill’. My daughter came to light and life went on for a while dealing with money issues and usual parental predicaments. Presenting myself to the world as a mother was a unique experience, though. The later scooter revival was blissfully unexpected, the magic being condensed in two peculiar moments. First, during a job-related visit to a notary I noticed a few Lambretta pictures in his office and asked for information. The man was puzzled by my curiosity and mocked me, as if being a woman was the ceaseless condition to remain in the shadow of the scooterism. His regard was so great that we eventually visited the garage. Under his nose I listed all the tech detail concerned. I then spotted a Golden Lambretta. Unexpectedly I was asked to take the machine as a gift… along with the solemn promise to ride and care for the scooter daily.”
Perplexed, this reporter was at first uncertain to believe or not to this part of the story; a single tear slipped away from Sabrina’s control, and sight of her quivering hand made me embrace her version and frankly showed me what the notary saw in her eyes that day. “The second fact made our encounter possible, Christian... the ‘Soul Rebel’. I had a dream to design a steed by myself, at least on paper, so I bought a Serveta Lince for just 600 Euros. I must admit, I manage such a sweet deal using a trick to the previous owner, to whom I concurred to use the machine as a countryside mule, aimed to transport wood and general goods.” Sabrina hidden behind her tattooed arms started to laugh loudly then continued. “Would you call yourself a scooter boy, if your only route would be to go to a custom garage and cough up 10,000 Euros for the final product? No, me neither! Starting from the bare machine, and thanks to my best friend, ‘Il
Despite the great attention Sabrina put into the machine, her connection with the Lambretta was even more obsessive, since on every possible occasion she gazed at the red creation.
Bassa’, who actually did a tremendous amount of welding, we crafted the idea together. A dozen return tickets from Roma to Ferrara were necessary and bit by bit, shaping her outline with a permanent marker we created my dream scooter which had to be not only a beautiful object to look at, but a reliable machine too, safe for rallies and commuting. Another problem was my low budget, so thousands of visits on the web market were a must.” Sabrina claimed that the bright red (Blood Kandy by Houston Colours) Soul Rebel was showing off outside represented the best picture of herself. Therefore, the dark black scooter interior, protected by the mudguard and panels, were the reflection of Sabrina’s complicated ‘inner reality’. Very few shiny parts took place in the modification by Bassa and Sabrina. Welcoming, warm and exciting appearance to a surface look… but very dark, complicated and rough inside, that explained the Line-X paint job. “We rebuilt the back end to accommodate the rear lamp structure, which remained hidden under a white grill. This was a nightmare Bassa dwelled on for weeks. I wanted a general 60s hot-rod mood, so we removed part from the front mudguard and the front legshield. A few centimetres lower was my cup of tea since I am not a 1.80 metres tall modette. A metal flake 15 and 30 grain completed the project.”
Time was running fast in my clock so I explored the mechanical parts by myself while Sabrina managed to cook pasta: A ‘Mugello’ based kit and a 28mm PHBH Dell’Orto, breathed through a PM pipe and were fuelled from an 18-litre tank. Varitronic ignition provided the electronics, and after a few pasta bites my knowledge went deeper, discovering a 5-plate clutch kit, IWIS chain and CASA chain tensioner. Despite the great attention Sabrina put into the machine, her connection with the Lambretta was even more obsessive, since on every possible occasion she gazed at the red creation. More interesting of all was her relationship with the possible technical problem. “See Christian, I know that Vespas are more reliable in the long run, but travel is more about the journey instead the destination to me. Due to huge technical ignorance, I cannot deal with a major breakdown, but sometimes when Soul Rebel won’t start, I remove the plug, clean it, screw it back again and… you guessed it, she will start again.”
Courage was one of the most prominent characterisation of Sabrina’s core, not the usual crazy nonsense courage, but driven by hardcore passion. A small village latched on a brown rock named Ceri was the photo location. Sabrina kicked hard the starter, pushed her beauty outside the kitchen and wore sunglasses. From that moment on, a smile grew shiny under the helmet. While leaving her house behind, focusing on the next article, I wondered how many girls would like to share their fierce scooter stories. Maybe we, men, are afraid to find out that proper scooter girls would beat us badly in passion and resilience. At the end, when you really get down to the nitty-gritty of your innermost self, happiness and dreams are the most important gamble to take because if you reach them and grab their tremendous powers, you will learn to fight back troubles in kind.