The heart of the custom scooter
Custom scooters have been created for decades; however, one part of the country seems to be an absolute hotbed of activity in this arena…
Custom scooters have been created for decades; however, one part of the country seems to be an absolute hotbed of activity in this arena… Scunthorpe!
Scunthorpe, a large industrial town in North Lincolnshire, is famous for having the largest steelworks in the UK and a somewhat struggling football team. That’s not all though; at the centre of it all is a thriving scooter scene, one that is driven by a polite rivalry which over time has created something of an institution. Reading this, many of you will associate your own town’s and city’s scooter scene as maybe being quite similar. To a certain extent that is true, but Scunthorpe, it seems, has bred custom scooters like nowhere else in the country. To understand the reasons why this phenomenon has evolved here, there are plenty of clues that give us the answer…
Reputations
By the mid-1970s scooter ownership in the UK had gone firmly underground and only survived in small pockets across the country. It has been well documented over the years that the north of England was where it had thrived the most, even if it can’t be fully explained why. Regardless of the reasons, this was the way it stayed until a certain film changed everything. Scunthorpe was a close-knit community and part of the reason was the vast steel mills situated there. If you didn’t work there then you knew someone who did and for the majority of those leaving school at the time, chances are this was where they would seek employment. Anyone interested in scooters was bound to come into contact with like-minded others and this community was part of the reason the local scene started to become much stronger.
The first clubs began to form around 1975 and were predominantly Lambrettabased, the reason being most likely because of their cheap price and availability compared to the Vespa, which was still in production. From the very beginning of the clubs, the scooters were being altered, hence the reason for buying a Lambretta. It didn’t matter if it was going to be tuned or resprayed as it had cost virtually nothing in the first place, something you couldn’t really do with a brand-new Vespa that had some sort of hire-purchase agreement on it. The first clubs to form were the Pathfinders and the Road Rats, soon followed by others. In total there were four main clubs but scooter ownership in the town was big enough to support them all. Reputations began to grow and as the trend of rallies started to build up, it seemed those from Scunthorpe were in some way feared or associated with trouble. For the members, though, that didn’t seem to matter too much… as the rivalry between clubs boiled over in the town itself, regardless of where else they travelled.
Do it yourself
Putting the reputations and trouble aside it was the scooters themselves that were the main centre of attraction and this was a key element to why the town would be associated with customising them so much.
His first real venture was Dellorto Sprint, a Lambretta GP painted in green, tuned and sign written on the side panels. It epitomised the late 1970s era of customising in the north of the country. This was the forerunner to his next creation and one that has stood the test of time… Time Trouble and Money.
From the outset the members were hell-bent on transforming them into something different. Whether it was home spraying via a rattle can or plating something in chrome, they were instantly transformed. Mark Brough or ‘Brad’, as he is known by most people, remembers it well. “This was more than just spraying the bodywork in one colour, there were several and it included pin-striping. Big carburettors and modified Ancillotti exhausts, it was all so different.”
Brad was a member from 1976 and can’t recall seeing many Lambrettas in standard paint until the Indian GP came out some two years later and even then, it wasn’t long before they were altered. This type of customising became the accepted policy of the club he was in (Road Rats) but it was the same with every other club within the town. No one is saying it didn’t happen elsewhere, it did; but you have to remember the scene was still very fragmented so at the time it was quite insular. The rivalry over customising scooters in Scunthorpe would continue, and as it did the ideas of how to go about it became bigger and better.
Something to do with time and money
Brad, now a bit older and wiser, and also earning a wage, was keen to get in on the local custom scene. His first real venture was Dellorto Sprint, a Lambretta GP painted in green, tuned and sign written on the side panels. It epitomised the late 1970s era of customising in the north of the country. This was the forerunner to his next creation and one that has stood the test of time… Time Trouble and Money. By now it was the 1980s with the Mod revival in full swing and helping the custom scene that had taken the whole country by storm as the national rallies united scooterists nationwide.
TTM, as it was more commonly known, was sprayed by Macca (no more needs to be said on his skills than already has been) but there wasn’t one – there were two. Brad said: “Me and another local lad decided to have the same theme done together,” hence why there has been confusion over the years as to where the originals went in later years. Brad sold his in 1983 and soon after it was altered slightly but the scooter still exists in that condition today. What TTM did was thrust the club into the limelight of the custom scene during that era, featuring in shows and magazines, being heralded as one of the best creations at the time.
Winners’ circle
TTM was a show winner, picking up trophies long after it had left Brad’s hands and moved out of Scunthorpe. That didn’t matter to him or the other club members and this is probably one of the reasons why the custom scene there became so strong. Building a custom scooter was about local pride and
outdoing each other. Entering them in big shows and competing against people across the country was of little interest. It was almost like the town was circled off from what was going on outside and only within the growing ranks of scooterists inside the town was where it mattered.
The customising continued as they all fed off each other’s ideas as the creations became bigger and better, but the rivalry was all light-hearted and nothing too sinister. A bit like someone pushing the boundaries to a new level and laying the gauntlet down to see who could better it and how they would go about it. This didn’t mean to say that the local clubs were cut off from everyone else, nothing could be further from the truth. They went to every rally and mixed with scooterists far and wide, but had become known as custom scooter clubs almost like it was accepted that’s just what they did. There was no real animosity, more respect earned through the scooters being created with no hint of jealousy. After all, custom scooters were being built far and wide as the 1980s progressed so they weren’t on their own any more. Perhaps Scunthorpe was now regarded as one of the towns where it was pioneered just a few years earlier.
Crumbling empire
As the decade progressed cracks started to appear within the town’s clubs. Some members were moving on as they were now slightly older and had been doing “the scooter thing” for more than a decade. Others, it seemed, were becoming fed up with each other and joining their rivals. There were a few acrimonious splits with the disbanding of clubs and for a while, it was almost like they were taking a rest from it all. Something that was quite strange when you think this was when the scene was at its biggest and hitting a peak.
It didn’t last forever and soon new clubs were forming out of the old ones, Brad’s club evolving into the Silhouettes, which is still going strong to this day. Though there may have been falling-outs, this didn’t mean anyone was getting out of owning scooters or customising them – if anything, that thrived. So much in fact, as the regrouping began the rivalries sprang back, albeit in a good way.
Secret society
Since the late 1980s that is the way things have continued within the town, with more stable clubs and the continuation of building custom scooters. Those involved were far more grown-up than to be bothered with infighting, instead just getting on with what they did best.
Though the custom scene remained strong within the town, some were wanting to be part of the more widespread show circuit; and after all, why not – they deserved it. As the owners moved the bar even higher, the competition in Scunthorpe intensified and has continued ever since.
It’s almost like it has become a tradition am among the scooterists there, not just w wanting to outdo each other but wanting th their next creation to be better than the last. T This is one of the reasons why it has kept go going so long now – entering into its sixth d decade, which seems almost unbelievable. T These days it’s a totally different affair with cr creations involving several people such as th the painters, chromers, engravers etc., all b being sworn to secrecy that nothing will be le leaked out until the great unveiling, almost like a movie press launch. Quite often Brad will comment: “So-and-so is on with a new scooter but it’s being kept top secret at the moment.” Perhaps that’s what helps with built-in excitement surrounding the next Scunthorpe custom scooter, but more than that… spurring on others locally to get the ball rolling on their projects, making it like a production line, constantly producing one after another.
No other place quite like it?
So there you have it – an industrial town in North Lincolnshire being responsible for helping start the custom revolution that has been part of the scooter scene since the 1970s. It’s predominantly Lambretta based and driven by enthusiastic owners keeping the tradition going, with the scene growing over the years and still showing no signs of slowing down. No one is saying this is the epicentre of it all, or the only place like it, but the town has played an important part.
So this begs the question, was your club part of the early custom scene or maybe at a later date in the 1980s? Do you live in an area where the same type of rivalry around scooter customisation still exists? If so, then please contact the magazine with your story.
Words: Stu Owen
Many thanks go to Mark Brough (Brad) and Walter Nelson-Aylott with their help in creating this article
Quite often Brad will comment: “So-and-so is on with a new scooter but it’s being kept top secret at the moment.”