Scootering

Thoroughbred Machines: Six Spanish Stallions

Gary Goble has always been a Vespa man through and through. Throughout his 35-plus-year involvement with the scooter scene, he’s owned, ridden and competed on Vespa P-range scooters. Apart from one or two occasions where he’s fitted an aftermarket exhaust system to one of his steeds, and a brief dalliance of about six months with a cut-down P-range, he's generally preferred his Vespas to be full-frame and bog-standard. In recent years, he has developed more than a taste for a very specific make and model of Vespa – P-range models and variations, made by Moto Vespa SA in Madrid, which are different, in some cases only slightly, to their Italian-made counterpart models and in other cases, exclusively Spanish-made models.

“I don’t like the later P-range with a disc brake. For me, it’s not correct and doesn’t look right. Other things I don’t like on some of the later P-ranges are the headsets with built-in mirror fixings, as well as the later-type speedo.”

From the Horse’s mouth: The runners

Some collectors are on a mission to own every possible example, others are guided by their own individual preferences in their quest to amass their collection. Gary is very much in the latter category. He has his own preferences as to what he wants regarding any P-range variant in his stable. “I’ve owned and ridden lots of P-range Vespas and a few T5s,

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Scootering

Scootering2 min read
The Fenwick Lambrettas That Was Then... French Production Deviations
A good example of the diversity in local design changes in French production is the horncasting, of which there were at least four different variants. This may seem illogical but was in fact forced on the company from the start of production, as ther
Scootering3 min read
Round The Bend
I recently took a friend to watch his very first scooter racing practice session. “You guys are f&*^ing crazy” was his opinion. Over the years he’s ridden bikes and did briefly own a scooter. Riding a scooter is easy, but he thought riding one extrem
Scootering3 min read
Viva la Vespa Festival, Thailand 2024
During my time in Thailand I had the opportunity to visit some friends, Vespa enthusiasts and business partners, for example Lome from Vintage Vespa Thai/Auu Vespa and Kittisak from Lady Bug Scooter. Their warmth and hospitality are unrivalled and I

Related Books & Audiobooks