Reader’s Ride: ’80s Flashback
Every single scooter has a personal meaning to its owner. Peter Martin tells us his journey through the ’80s in the artwork on his Vespa PX200…
Every single scooter has a personal meaning to its owner. Peter Martin tells us his journey through the ’80s in the artwork on his Vespa PX200…
Peter explained that he bought the scooter in 2017 and apart from it being sprayed black the previous owner had kept it in its original condition. “It’s always been a very reliable scooter, so I just wanted to add my own ideas to it and rather than just add wraps I wanted an original paint job with artwork. I’d seen some of Gatch’s work on Facebook and on scooters at rallies, so I decided to contact him to talk about what I had in mind.”
It’s always been a very reliable scooter, so I just wanted to add my own ideas to it and rather than just add wraps I wanted an original paint job with artwork.
Apology
To see if Gatch was up for completing the work, Peter sent him a text message. “I got the message from Peter, but at the time I was super busy with one thing and another, so it was only after seven months that I was able to contact Peter back! I apologised to Peter for the delay, he fully understood and was still as excited as ever about getting the project moving,” Gatch explained. Peter and Gatch discussed the theme and between the two of them they came up with a plan. At the end of the conversation Peter asked Gatch when he could start the work; Gatch said he could do it more-or-less straight away. “I think he must have grasped the moment immediately, because after we hung up on the Tuesday Peter was here with it in Halifax on the Thursday!” Gatch smiled. Although the scooter was stripped down it was still in its black paint.
In the ’80s I was known for my own modifications to my scooters. While the scooter is fairly standard I wanted it to have a unique element. I wanted just one item that wasn’t an ‘over the counter’ item and was unlikely to be seen on anyone else’s scooter.
“Peter had some specific requests, which he wanted me to include in the artwork and black was never going to work for what we had in mind, so I gave it a fire-cracker-red base-coat, which would represent energy and pull the artwork together. Peter’s first two main priorities for the artwork were that he wanted me to cover the kiln tradition associated with the history of Stoke and to have his boxing idol, Sugar Ray Leonard, on the scooter. These are two interesting themes but they weren’t easy to blend!”
Clever thinking
Rising to the challenge, Gatch decided the best way to blend the two themes was to put two murals on the toolbox lid and bind them together with a Staffordshire knot supported by the graphic ‘A decade like no other’. “I did it this way because I knew the scooter was going to be Peter’s story and putting them on the toolbox meant he’d be able to see them every time he was out on the scooter,” said Gatch. One of Peter’s other requests was that he wanted the scooter to have e a centrepiece. He said: “In the ’80s I was known for my own modifications to my scooters. While the scooter is fairly standard I wanted it to have a unique element. I wanted just one item that wasn’t an ‘over the counter’ item and was unlikely to be seen on anyone else’s scooter.” Gatch gave it some thought and found a police officer’s helmet badge in an antique shop in Huddersfield. It was perfect for the job and would support the whole story. Looking round the scooter everything that Peter asked to be included is there. He said: “It’s based on the things that were ‘stand out’ moments in my youth and
memories of things that happened in the Eighties. The miners’ strike, the Parachute Regiment, the Falklands Campaign, The Jam, Northern Soul, Two Tone, Sugar Ray Leonard, Doc Martens (which happens to be my nickname), Stoke railway station, which was the starting point of away days following Stoke City FC, sheepskin coats and donkey jackets were the fashion and the Wagon & Horses pub at Meir, Stokeon-Trent, was where I used to go to Northern Soul events.”
Timeline
It’s true a lot of us got into the scooter scene through the Mod revival of the late-’70s and the ’80s followed, which was probably one of the most influential periods in terms of scooter rallies and scooter styles. ’80s Flashbacks is an authentic timeline of Peter’s journey through the ’80s, and the events and experiences he shares on his scooter will no doubt bring back memories for a lot of us of a decade which in one way or another had its fair share of highs and lows.