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Andy Sampson has always had an interest in scooters. Well, since the late 70's, when he was living on Leigh-on-Sea and the Lambretta Club held a couple of rallies there at Two Tree Island. Quadrophenia came along and in Leigh-on-Sea at Barrons Night Club, on Saturday nights, all the Scooterists and Mods went along to strut their stuff. Although he was hanging out in all the right places, Andy never actually owned a scooter during that period.

Fast forward some thirteen years or so. Andy saw a Triumph Tigress for sale in a shop in Ipswich. An interest which had laid dormant for quite a considerable amount of time was sparked back into life. He decided to obtain a Lambretta. A few phone calls later and Andy was the proud owner of... a box of bits and a bare Li 150 Series II frame.

He embarked on an intense search for spares and parts to complete the Lambretta, during which he found an old scooter dealer from whom he picked up some sought after collectors items. They were in the rusting shape of original 60's Vespa crashbars - which he subsequently traded for a 42L2 Vespa. The dealer put him on to some one, (his son actually), who had an old Vespa tucked away in his shed.

Intrigued, Andy went along to have a look. Although in a sorry looking state, he was informed it was a genuine Eddie Grimstead Hurricane SS180. More phone calls, this time to those in the know. It certainly seemed to be a Hurricane - so he bought it. The Li was completed in May 95, so next project was 'The Hurricane'.

Thing was, once he started stripping down the machine he discovered that although the paint scheme was that of a 'Grimstead Hurricane', the engine was absolutely bog standard. The SS180 Vespa was the last of the piston-ported Vespas, (others being the GS range), and was the model that preceded the Rally. Quite reasonable in the performance stakes for it's vintage, but not a Hurricane. Andy can only speculate as to why the engine was standard. Perhaps the official owner only wanted the paintjob, or the engine was put into another frame - who knows.

Andy opted to refurbish the scooter as it was, choosing not to go for a Grimstead Hurricane 'Replica' motor. Main reason being although 60's tuning and uprated engine spares are not too hard to find, other items such as the badging and the speedo are as hard to find as the proverbial rocking horse shit.

At the time Andy intended to restore the SS180 to its former glory, sell it and then look for a GS. Matching the paint proved to be harder than anticipated. The original colours were Vespa White and Vauxhall Cavern Green. The nearest shade of green was Rolls Royce Emerald Green, but that wasn't the problem. The physical spraying was. The first place he went to went bust. So he took his SS180 to another firm, where 90% of the spraying was done. Then they went bust too! The third place had the job of matching up the remaining parts. They are still in business at the moment, so Andy's SS180 isn't a Jonah - thankfully.

Of course being a 60's style Street Classic, a degree of chrome plating was required. Nothing over the top, just enough to look right. Andy managed to complete his Hurricane SS180 in time for the Vespa 50th Anniversary Rally at Billing last year. SS180 Vespas are supposed to be quite rare, so he was mildly surprised to see an abundance of them at the Vespa Rally. There again, being a Vespa rally it's the place most likely to find one of the rarer models on display.

Next it was a full scale battle with the Vehicle Registration Office. Wanting to retain the original registration number, Andy arranged for an inspector to check the scooter over, only to be allocated Mr. Awkward, Hitler, Jobsworth. First he turned up early and took the casing part numbers. Then came back the next day, armed with a pink sheet of paper, which he officially waved around. Referring to it as 'his Bible', he told Andy he would have to have a 'Q' plate. No amount of sensible, reasonable, and logical pleading would see the man to change his entrenched mind.

Andy contacted Les Smith from the Veteran Vespa Club who got on the case. A week before last August's Isle of Wight Mod Rally, Andy recieved his original registration. Taxed and Tested, it was off to the Isle of Wight, two-up, and it didn't miss a beat.

Andy set up the Suffolk Vintage Scooter Club to help others in a similar situation to himself. A good move it proved to be as they already have 17 members and forty-seven scooters (in different stages of repair), plus a full diary for '97.

He's now fallen in love with the SS180 Hurricane, and is most definitely keeping it. Only one or two additions are planned; a 60's front rack and a set of Florida bars. But no crashbars. Andy doesn't want to drill the legshields. At the moment the Hurricane is Andy's favourite scoot, with only one minor heat seizure since it's been up and running. The biggest headache was the run in with the V.R.O., with the solution achieved by the V.V.C. This underlines the worth of one make clubs, and the pull they have.

Embarking on a restoration? Join a one make club. Look kids, you know it makes sense.