It was in the summer of ‘69. A Messerschmitt KR 175 swapped for £3 and a BSA B31 single, in bits, from a chap called ‘Stocker’ in Measham, who had it abandoned in his garden. This is what started it all. I cleaned it up, painted it yellow and hit the road, with my Mum in the back giving me ‘lessons’. She must have been terrified! It was a 1953 Cabin Scooter and I still have the number plate here in the garage, LDR 509. The photo was taken by Dad on one of those new Polaroid cameras. It was, of course, only 16 years old then and parts were easy enough to get from an outfit called Pride and Clark, in that London. Big ad in the back page of Exchange & Mart. Cue Diplo & A F-A. I didn’t have the Messy shit long and was thrilled to get £15 when I sold it a few months later to replace it with an Isetta Bubble car. Now it would be worth several thousand. There are some very funny vids on Youtube of others.
6 comments:
Oh yes! You lucky B! I still love the Bubbles and a Messer has top banana status! Saw one once (Brighton Speed Trials I think) with a Triumph 650 engine in...but an Isetta with a Triumph 650 in might have been even more droll! GREAT photo!
My mate Paul the painter had one of those around the time of Alfred the Great and he managed to capsize it. Unusually the plexiglass roof didn't shatter and he was stranded rather like a tortoise on its back. The smell of petrol began to pervade the atmosphere and he wisely decided to retrieve and extinguish the glowing dottle of his pipe from somewhere between his thighs. Luckily a bus came along, the passengers got out and they set him back on his wheels again. Soon after he sold it and for reasons best known to him and his maker, bought an LE Velocette.
Snide and Shark, a magnificent emporium in Brixton that carried on selling new Panthers and sidecars well into the 'Mini' era.
I'd forgotten the little black spotlamps. Powerful image. Mad Den had one as well, didn't he? Oh, rose- tinted days!
Not sure about Mad Den, but Bob Kelly had the, now very rare...naturally, KR200 convertable.
You must have been able to go quite fast because it looks as though the wings have fallen off.
Achtung, donner und blitzen, Englander - Spitfeur ! - hande hoch etc etc
Post a Comment