You’ve got to hand it to mother nature and how in this modern age the British weather can put a spanner in the works of the best laid plans. This was the week when racing at Cowes was abandoned, Boardmasters festival was cancelled and trains were in chaos due to the adverse conditions. However, for the scootering calendar, the show must go on, and so it proved over in East Preston, near Worthing.
The Southern Counties Scooterist Alldayer was the brainchild of Sarah George from Area 51 SC who wanted to organise a local event to raise money for charity. She was ably assisted by husband Adrian and other club members and was inspired by many friends who have gone through treatment to raise as much as possible for the cancer unit at Worthing Hospital.
It was only a few miles along the coast for us but I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to riding in gusty winds. I really wanted to go on the scooter though, so I put on my big girls’ pants and lead the way with Snowy following me as he had no idea where he was going. It turned out I didn’t either, and we made a couple of wrong turns, but eventually found East Preston Football Club and I was guided into the custom show tent by the helpful marshalls.
Poor Sarah had slept in the main marquee on the Friday night to ensure that the winds didn’t blow it away, but it was too risky to use it on the day so they had to take it down. Scooterists weren’t deterred though and the custom show spilled out into the car park as more scooters arrived.
Southern Counties Custom Show
There were some lovely scooters on display at the custom show. A couple of people asked if my panels were vinyl wraps, which I took as a compliment! When I told them it was sprayed using rattle cans, they were really surprised. Special guest Gary Shail (from Quadrophenia and Metal Mickey fame) loved it and posed for me, hastily putting his fag out so as not to set a bad example!
There were quite a few classics on display, including a few lovely Series 1 Lambrettas.
My eyes were drawn to a particular Lambretta though, O’Fortuna, which is owned by Shane Hayter. It’s been around for a few years but this was the first time I’d seen it up close and been able to dig deeper into the inspiration behind it.
O’Fortuna
Shane became a veteran over 10 years ago and the scooter is a tribute to his time spent in the 1st Battalion, the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment. O’Fortuna is the tune he played his fellow soldiers in the back of their Warrior armoured personnel carrier when they knew they were going into battle.
Shane has owned the scooter since he was 17 and it originally cost him just £250! The customisation was a present to himself when he left the army and it took four years to build.
The airbrushing is brilliant, particularly when you find out that it was done by a solicitor who does tattooing on the side too! Stuart Forster practises law in the week and does tattoos on the weekend, with a bit of airbrushing thrown in for good measure.
The paint is by Nutty Boy Customs and the engraving is the work of Jason Lock, with chrome by Beckworth Group, Alton.
The engine is No 275 TSI, originally owned by Chris Merrit from Portsmouth who raced for Hampshire Union in the early 1990s.
The seat is by Jacob Leatherwear and there are a number of one-off bits including grips made from bayonets used in Iraq and floor runners made from 5.56 link ammunition.
O’Fortuna may not be familiar but I guarantee you will know this piece of music it as it is used a lot in films and on TV; you can listen to it on YouTube below.
Here is the gallery of photos I took of this awesome scooter.
Best In Show
This lovely rare GS150 VS5 won two trophies on the day, for Best In Show and Best Mod Scooter. It is owned by Carl Grisley who we first met at Portsmouth last year, waiting to get onto the Isle of Wight ferry. He and Gina both have fantastic classic Vespas, which regularly appear in custom shows.
The GS is a MISA Belgian model (they were only built in Belgium for six years) and Carl has owned it for three years. He bought it in London and it had lived in a Belgian barn for 20 years previously. It has had a total nut and bolt rebuild and was resprayed in original factory colours, courtesy of Scooter Paint & Restorations, Chigwell, Essex. All the accessories are original period pieces.
Gina, Carl’s other half, won Best Unrestored Scooter at the Southern Counties custom show for this 1959 152L2 Douglas model. It’s a dealer special, hence the chrome panels, headset and mudguard.
She bought it a year ago from Lexport Scooters in Bromley from a guy that originally got it from the Mods and Rockers exhibition in Margate, where the Sawdust Ceasars speech was made in the 1960s.
Southern Counties Alldayer
Special guest Gary Shail was happy to mingle with the scooterists (when I wasn’t dragging him away for a photo!) and really interested to hear about the charity side of things from Sarah.
The bar and food stalls were busy when we were there, with windswept scooterists enjoying a cheeky cider or two.
The trade stalls were available for spare parts and chrome bits and bobs.
Southern Counties Gallery
I’m really glad I braved the weather to ride to the Southern Counties Alldayer. We returned in the evening for the do, where Terry Hendrick and a bunch of other DJs were keeping the dancefloor busy. Sarah organised a successful auction with lots including a night at the Grand Hotel in Brighton for the 40th anniversary of Quadrophenia.
Sarah and her team raised a grand total of £2018.46 for the Worthing hospital cancer unit!
Rally Guides
If you’re planning your scootering calendar for 2021 then check out my 2021 Rally Guide to get the best choice of accommodation.
For an in-depth guide to the biggest scooter rally in the world, here is a link to my Isle of Wight rally guide.
My First Rally Stories
If you’re interested in hearing about how I got into scootering, or the stories of much more famous people than me (!) then check them out below.
Read more My First Rally stories using these links (in alphabetic order)
– Ali Richards
– Bill Mac
– Dave Lloyd
– Dean Percival
– Dizzy Holmes
– Iggy Grainger
– Jo Jackson
– Lee Parker
– Lee Richards
– Mike Oxley
– Niamh Pennington
– Nick Jolly
– Norrie Kerr
– Roger Williams
– Sandra Smith
– Sarah George
– Sean Robinson
– Stacey Gardner
– Steve Bone
– Sticky
– Stuart Owen
– Vince Wooloff