If you only ever read one scooter biography, this is the one you should pick.
Few Scootering readers will need any introduction to Dean Orton. Co-founding Rimini Lambretta and managing the Casa Lambretta racing team are two of his best-known achievements. Still, if you’ve ever wondered how a young Mod from Cornwall managed to find himself in that position, this book contains all the answers you’re looking for.
Predictably, the story begins with young Dean falling in love with scooters during the Mod revival years, but from that point on, the story becomes one of someone prepared to take chances and, more importantly, take risks. Having ridden from the UK to start a new life in the ‘land of Lambretta’, Dean finds himself living hand to mouth in an Italian bedsit and teaching himself Italian with the help of a local newspaper.
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As the UK’s restoration movement began to grow in the UK, and any old stock held by former British Lambretta dealers had been snapped up, a handful of British scooterists realised that there would be opportunities to do the same in Europe. Rivalry was intense, reliable contacts were hard-won, and their details closely guarded. With much of Italy being scoured by rival hunters, Dean turned his eyes to the unlikely destination of Greece. There, he scoured everywhere from the capital city of Athens to small hillside villages. Other chapters cover the emerging Italian Mod scene, the creation of Casa Lambretta’s race team, and how Egyptian shipments of small-capacity Lambretta engines to Syria became a significant source of hard-to-find accessories and frame components. (If that isn’t enough of a tease, I don’t know what is!)
It took Dean six years to write this book, and every chapter’s a winner. As one of the best-known personalities in the classic scooter world, it’s evident that Dean has a host of stories to relate. This book is the next best thing to having his undivided attention whilst he tells you, eloquently and with humour. Refreshingly, Dean isn’t averse to admitting when he’s wrong or makes a fool of himself.
Published in hardback, its 587 pages may seem like a lot to get through, but this is a hugely entertaining book. Although best read as set out, the chapters all cover individual stories, so if you prefer to ‘dip in and out’, that’s also possible. If you were gifted one for Christmas, well done. If not, this really should be the first present you give yourself this year. Highly recommended doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about this book.
Words: Stan
Images: Courtesy of Dean Orton
Published by: Speedball Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-8380100
RRP: £21.99
