Paul's Custom Vespa GS 150

Custom scooters were very iconic during the 1980's. Many young scooter enthusiasts at this time customised  their scooters as a sign of expression. The scooter itself, Vespa or Lambretta, was a blank canvas for murals and themes which varied from personal to musical to general colour palettes. No matter what the design, scooters of this nature always attracted attention and it is still the same today. 

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I have wanted to write about a fellow Jersey scooterist's customisation adventure with his own Vespa for quite a while. Paul Le Brocq, who has been scootering since 1979, the year of the Mod Revival, has always valued the appearance of scooters. Back in the day, Paul, and fellow scooterists such as my dad, would personalise their scooters with mirrors, leopard print seats and many more Mod accessories. You name it, they had it! They were ahead of the game and Quadrophenia was the film of the moment.

 

In the last 10 years Paul has taken a different approach to styling his scooters. The big word is customisation. Being individual and having your own designs, is very difficult in the scooter scene, but Paul has managed to stand out from the crowd. 

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His most recent project is a 1959 Vespa GS 150 German model called 'Pearl'. When Paul bought the scooter, the colour was a standard grey, but before long it would be turned in to a masterpiece. The scooter has had 24 layers of paint, and was sprayed by Dave Dickinson, who is renowned for his skill. Dave has shown his work on various scooters such as a custom Lambretta called 'Resurrection' (inspired by the Stone Roses), "Scar Tissue" which is a Vespa PX (themed after the Red Hot Chilli Peppers), and Paul's other creation 'Twisted Soul' which is a Vespa Rally 200. Pearl's paint job is one of a kind, and from every angle the scooter shows a different colour. The scooter was also sprayed using real oyster shell sourced from Japan. This accounts for the many layers of paint. The badges on the scooter have been handmade by Carl Blanche and the custom legshield bars and exhaust have been created by Iain Wilkins.  The seat and upholstery were completed by Corky (John Andrew Corcoran) and the chrome accessories were finished by Quality Chrome. A great piece of work completed by all. Not to forget Martin Roberts Motorcycles, who completed the build on the scooter with excellent precision. 

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Paul took Pearl to the Brighton Mod Weekender back in 2022 and won 'Best Vespa' and also went on to win 'Best Vintage' at the Coventry show in 2024. I am sure this scooter will go on to win more prizes in the coming years. You never know I may put my own twist on one of my scooters at some point! Paul has been an inspiration.

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I really hope everyone enjoyed this read, and I will upload more write ups in the near future.

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Keep Scootering!

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