Is it a classic?

I’ve just read Stu Owen’s item in December 2020 issue regarding what makes a classic scooter. I was interested in his quote that a T5 is now a classic; in the first lockdown I started a restoration of a E-reg T5 that had lived behind the shed for 10 years. With great plans and ideas I got halfway though the rebuild, gave up and purchased a Scomadi for the money needed to get the Vespa up and running the way I would have wanted it to look.

I would be interested to know why the T5 is now held in high regard as I saw it as an ugly duckling and was changing the whole look of the scooter before I passed it on in favour of an up and running Scomadi TL125. Also could I ask Stu if in 25 years my TL125 is still knocking around would that become a classic? Jools Garner

Hi Jools,

When the T5 was introduced in the mid-1980s it was hailed as a revelation, with great performance from its 125cc engine, the likes of which had never been seen from a factory model before. However, though it was based on the PX chassis, Piaggio changed its look cosmetically with the revised front and rear end. You are right – many staunch Vespa purists at the time disliked its shape and shunned it, but its performance won over a new audience at the time, including my wife, who was a Lambretta owner. When it was discontinued a few years later owners were left stunned why such a popular model was no more. Roll on 25-odd years and it has become regarded as a classic. Why? Because there has been nothing else like it since and its uniqueness helped the cult hero status of the T5 evolve over time. As for your Scomadi, that depends on many things, such as whether petrol-engined scooters will be allowed in a quarter of a century from now and how different two-wheeled travel will be. Scooters like the Scomadi do divide opinion at present but in the future who knows if that will change. Get back to me in 2045 and we will see.

Stu Owen