Keep on smiling
The Peter Guppy story
The Vespa – the classic little scooter that has the ability to bond people together and create lifelong friendships and great times shared with like-minded folk. Peter Guppy is one such person that I’ve been lucky enough to meet through scootering and now consider a true friend.
Peter Guppy was born in the Aldershot Cottage Hospital in 1944 and has lived in Hampshire all his life. His two-wheeled journey began with his first job, working as a GPO telegram boy.
This ignited his passion for powered two-wheelers and the young Guppy aspired to get his own Velocette motorcycle. Peter's dad had other ideas though, as he was concerned about his young lad's safety.
Peter's dad must have been a pretty fair and decent chap though; he didn't implement a carpet ban on Peter getting his own machine, instead pointing him towards a nice shiny red scooter as a much safer option (wow, the times that story has appeared).
That Douglas Vespa 42L2 was purchased by Peter from Les Archer, a well-known motorcycle scrambler at the time and proprietor of Archer's Motorcycles (an authorised Douglas dealership in his area).
Peter loved his new wheels but was a bit frightened to take it to work as most of his workmates were Rockers and used to give him a bit of stick about riding a ‘hair dryer' and on one occasion blocked him in the bike shed so he couldn't get out. Goodness me, such ruffians; thankfully they didn't go as far as to stick their tongues out at him!
ENLIGHTENMENT
This would have been 1961 and as part of Peter's job he had to work one weekend in every four. Peter can remember working one particular Sunday morning and was on his way back to the depot, a journey that took him through a place called Fleet. When he passed Rushmore Arena (an area of ex-military land that was used to hold shows) he could see loads of Vespa scooters arriving and queuing up to get in. Peter pulled up and asked one of the riders what was going on. He was told that it was a national Vespa meeting and that people had arrived from all over the place to take part.
Until that time Peter was totally unaware of such a movement of fellow scooter enthusiasts. Now with sights and smells of what he'd just witnessed spinning around in his head beneath his official GPO Corker helmet, he grinned like a Cheshire cat; he excitedly rode back to work as fast as he could go, dropped off his works motorcycle, then went home to get changed and get his own Vespa out and headed back to the stadium to see what it was all about.
After paying his entrance fee of one shilling, 2d, half-a-crown and a tanner, (or something equally as daft), Peter entered the stadium and couldn't believe his eyes. There were Vespa scooters and people everywhere; fantastic machines with great paint schemes, chrome and shiny bits all over the place. Peter says the sight of some of these machines made him feel quite humble on his own standard machine. There were scooters and their riders taking part in competitions like the gymkhana and other skill rides. He can remember just walking round trying to take it all in and not miss a thing; he just smiled – and to be fair, hasn't stopped smiling since that day on.
COME AND JOIN US
While walking around this Vespa wonderland, Peter spotted three or four scooters with Fleet Foots banners on and got talking to the owners. They invited him to join them and that was it, Peter was now in a local Vespa club and he also joined the Vespa Club of Britain.
As time went by, Fleet Foots members dwindled to more or less just Peter and a couple of mates. They decided they'd try and drum up interest in the local area Vespa scene once more and formed the Farnborough Vespa Club from the ashes of Fleet Foots. They were even given the cog badge number 168 again (the old club's affiliation number).
The few members of the newly formed Farnborough Vespa Club got stuck in getting some flyers printed and posting them on lampposts and in shop windows. They would also keep their eyes open when out and about and speak to other Vespa riders they met, handing them a flyer and inviting them to the club night. On one such occasion (and following on from last month's feature on Lester Hale) Peter gives his side of the tale of how they met and ended up being great mates from then onwards.
“I'd seen this guy flying round on his scooter a time or two, he would just go like the clappers and ride it as fast as he could all the time; he still does to be fair, even at his age. He took some catching as I'd been chasing him for a week or so before one day, I spotted him stood in the front of the queue of traffic at the railway crossing. I quickly put my scooter on its stand and ran down the line to catch him. I gave him a right start when I finally caught up to him, he admitted to me later he thought that he must have upset me on the road somewhere and had come to give him a punch on the nose. I told him about the new Farnborough Vespa Club and invited him to come and join us. And that was that, we have been good mates ever since.”
HULLY GULLY
Within the club all the members had nicknames painted on to the front of their Army and Navy Stores surplus anoraks which they'd dyed green. Lester's nickname was ‘Boots' (as mentioned last month) due to him wearing wellies with his wax cotton riding gear. Peter was christened ‘Hully Gully' which Pete says, was a song and a dance at the time and also sounded a bit like Guppy!
By this time, Peter had become very involved with every aspect of the Vespa club scene and even got into the competition side of things, always willing to have a go, but was more than happy to join in with the fun rather than take it too seriously. He even attended and competed in the 1964 Isle of Man Scooter Week, but is the first to admit that he didn't really know what he was doing and was no match for the likes of Lester Hale and Luke Kitto, even though he did say that in one event he came second (to last, that is)!
Peter saw an advert in the Vespa News about a London-Brighton veteran run organised by some VCB members who were interested in keeping, preserving and encouraging the use of the older Vespa models of the time. Peter decided to have a go at this, so he and a couple of mates looked round for qualifying machines, eventually finding a Rod and a couple of G Models. Peter said they all set off, but he was the only one to complete the journey and as such became one of the founding members of what would become the Veteran Vespa Club's inaugural run, a friendly club still going strong today and a club that Peter is still an active member of.
Peter says that one of the machines that didn't make it was put on to the bonfire with a guy on top of it at the Farnborough Club's bonfire night party. Unbelievable to think of such a thing these days.
A VESPA LOVE AFFAIRE
Peter met his wife Janet through the Farnborough Vespa Club. She used to go out with another club member and had always attended the events as a pillion, but when they split up, Janet got her own scooter, a beautiful Douglas Vespa Sportique and became a rider in her own right, to carry on with the fun. Peter says that he accompanied Janet to a rally in Nottingham and they just hit it off from there, eventually getting married on June 7, 1969. Peter says that Janet only went out with him so he could fix her scooter, so he hasn't done a bad job really, as they are still married and Janet still owns the beautiful scooter.
FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Peter's association with the scooter world continued and he became a VCB regional council member. This is when, at some Federation of British Scooter Club meeting or other, he bumped into another now famous character from the scene, the very much loved and deeply missed Chuck Swonnell. They instantly hit it off and became good friends from then on, getting up to all sorts of mischief. Peter went on to say that once a year Screwfix would hold a big exhibition/ trade fair type of thing near them when he and Chuck would meet up and have a day looking round the different stalls and products. They would then leave the building and collect a free goody bag. These freebies would then be put back into the car and they would go back in and do the same again. Peter says their record without getting rumbled was three goody bags each.
Peter also said that Chuck and himself used to share a room at many of the scooter events both in the UK and Europe and they would take it in turns to book and pay. Peter remembered that Chuck still owed him £23 and will remind him of it when they meet up again. He misses his old pal deeply.
KEEP ON KEEPING ON!
Peter is still very active on the scooter scene and still puts in the miles on his Vespa scooters. He's had a few health problems over the last few years, which go with the unfortunate ageing process, but allows nothing to keep him down or let it detract from the world of the Vespa scooter which has been such a very big part of his life for so long.
Peter Guppy is one of life's genuinely nice guys, always has a smile and a silly joke or saying, never seems to take things too seriously and lights up any room with his presence (or is that the anticipation to see what mischief he'll create, or at the very least, have a hand in). A true Vespista and character on the scooter scene.
I asked Peter for a quote as to what the Vespa has meant to him:
“To the Vespa scooter, thank you for all the friends I’ve made, the freedom to travel and for being the reason I met my super wife Janet”. The Famous Gup
Words that will ring so true with so many, long may it continue!
Cheers mi old luv!