Scootering in the 60s, 70s and 80s

From the publisher

Scootering in the 1960's
The golden age of scootering - to which everything else harks back - was the 1960s. The scooter was an essential component of Mod subculture - alongside the fishtail parka, tailor-made suits, all-night dancing clubs and The Who. Scootering writer Stuart Owen looks back at the scooter scene's formative years and the 'moral panic' which characterised the clashes between Mods and rockers. This was the very beginning of the customisation craze - since older machines were now available and the fear of voiding a warranty was no longer an issue. Some of the most iconic and influential custom scooter designs were created during this time.

Scootering in the 1970's
From its halcyon days as a steed for the 1960s Mod movement, the scooter descended into darkness during the 1970s. The Mods were growing up and buying cars, dealers were moving on to Japanese motorcycles and even the manufacturers were falling by the wayside - with the closure of Innocenti in 1971 bringing Lambretta production to a halt and the tooling being sold to India. Yet a spark of life remained. Scooter racing continued and the nation's garages remained littered with the scooters of years past - just waiting for a chance to live again. It was the calm before the storm that was the 1980s scooter boom and the seeds of that exponential growth were already being planted.

Scootering in the 1980's
Opening at cinemas on November 2, 1979, Quadrophenia, starring Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash and Toyah, lit the blue touch paper for the scootering movement. Suddenly the Mods' vehicle of choice was back in vogue and teens up and down Britain suddenly realised what was missing from their lives. The wilderness years of the 1970s were all but forgotten as scooters were rescued from shed-bound obscurity and put back on the road in a bewildering variety of custom configurations and colours. It was the beginning of a movement which swept through the 80s and beyond and which, despite some ups and downs, continues today. Stuart Owen presents his look back on this tumultuous scootering decade.