Li’l Deuce Evolution

Fifty years on from one of the most influential custom scooters ever built, it has now completed its final evolution. Stu Smith reports…

Last autumn, we interviewed Nick Greenly, the original owner and creator of Li’l Deuce Scoot. For those who didn’t see the story, it was an exclusive look at how he designed and built what would become a hugely important part of scooter custom history. Nick owned it for only a couple of years before it was passed on, and it has been owned by Col Westfield since 1991. Many will be well aware that Col turned it into the magnificent Arai Racer, but that too was showing its age, and he decided it was time for a refurb.

Knowing its rich scootering heritage, he set out to go full circle and take it back to Li’l Deuce Scoot – not how it was done originally, but an evolution, as 2026 is fifty years since its debut. Col made the team at Scootering aware of his plans when we were working on the article with Nick last autumn and promised to inform us once it was done. That time has now arrived, and it was well worth the wait because the final result is something to behold.

Reputation

Col comes from the Lincolnshire town of Scunthorpe, which has a rich scooter history and is the ideal place to live if you are a Lambretta owner. However, it’s a hotbed of custom scooters and always has been, and that’s the big problem. Competition has always been at the highest level; many builds have been done in secret to avoid giving ideas away. The pressure is on to deliver because the standard is so high, with your latest creation being subject to intense scrutiny. Col is unfazed by it all, having produced some of the finest builds to come out of the town, but this one is different.

Li’l Deuce Scoot has a huge reputation, being seen as the catalyst that set the benchmark for scooter customisation in the mid-1970s. If it were a tribute, then it needed to be something stunning, but, being the original machine, it becomes even more intense. There was no question of it being anything other than a full-frame Lambretta and featuring a tuned engine, etc. While that is important, the paint scheme would be the biggest challenge, because how do you get it right? Would it be the simple choice of replicating it? Not as easy as it sounds, because it was done by a signwriter and artist. Any painter worth their salt could do so, but the rawness of the original can sometimes be difficult to achieve.

Col was aware it needed to retain some of the original scheme, but not to get too laden down trying to replicate the entire thing. It needed to be brought up to date and, in his eyes, an evolution (a word we like in this magazine), and so would require a lot of planning. This is where he brought in Dave Dickinson, not because he has painted many of the custom scooters in the Scunthorpe area, but because he is one of the best. This scheme was going to use a mix of modern graphics and logos, and also include artwork murals on the side panels, both of which he is very capable of producing.

Split decision

The base colour chosen was black, but it has variations, such as slightly lighter shading and the use of solid and metallic finishes. This is a trademark of Dave Dickinson’s style, which has been used to great effect before and works well here. The difficult part was how to modernise or evolve the scheme to suit 2026, and it was done by using striking lines in the shape of arrowed graphics. This is most visible on the side panels and the front mudguard, and it gives a sense of speed. Areas where this is more difficult to produce, such as the front leg shields, have been used to extend those lines from the front mudguard to great effect.

While these graphics don’t have an outline on their leading edge, they have a white pinstripe that follows them, which you might think would complicate the scheme. In fact, the opposite happens because they raise them without the two ever touching. This scheme must have taken a fair bit of drawing to get it right before painting, and hats off to Dave because it’s so clever. And the more you look at it, the more special it becomes. Though the scheme is repeated on both sides of the body, one side uses green while the other uses blue. Quite often, on a custom Lambretta, the colour on one side mirrors the other, but by using two different colours, it throws your head a bit, as if you are looking at two different machines – very clever.

Of course, there must be a link to the machine’s history, and that is carried out on the side panels. Originally, there was an image of Nick riding the scooter on the left-hand panel, and that has been faithfully reproduced on the opposite side (originally a scene from Quadrophenia). On the left-hand panel, this time it shows Col riding it when it was the Arai Racer. This shows three stages of its evolution from 1976 into the 2000s, while the rest of the paintwork represents it now. I can’t think of a better way to show and preserve the history of such an important scooter; it’s all there.

Taylored to perfection

There was no chance of the engine remaining standard; it wasn’t in the original, and let’s face it, Col is a fan of highly tuned Lambretta engines, judging by previous builds. That’s why he hired Darrell Taylor’s services to weave his magic on the cylinder for which the RB225 was chosen. This was one of Darrell’s engine packages that he supplies, in which all the components are checked and corrected by him, if need be, to ensure good quality. With the 70mm bore and 62mm stroke, there is plenty of capacity now, standing at 238cc. As Darrell told me, “It’s standard, just measured up and adjusted port specs with packers to get the correct timings and squish.” In other words, it’s set up by him to get the optimal power, which will be plenty.

This is where it gets interesting: Li’l Deuce Scoot has a long, documented history, so seeing the modern-day take on it compared with what it was 50 years ago offers insight into the development of the Lambretta. A great example is the front forks, once a reverse-pull Innocenti disc brake with pencil dampers, but now a Casa performance hydraulic brake with BGM Pro dampers. Probably three or four times the stopping power it had originally, with the equipment to handle it under heavy braking. Similarly, at the back, with the much-improved Reedspeed shock absorber, it is far better at coping with the engine’s increased power. It’s other things, such as electronic ignition, a long-range Oilltek fuel tank, and things we now take for granted, which in 1976 were unthinkable.

Story time

This Lambretta rolled off the production line 56 years ago, and we all know how it was transformed into something groundbreaking. It’s still going strong thanks to Col and the others who owned it before him, but he has owned it the longest. During that time, it became something different, but now it’s reverted to what it once was, albeit in its modern incarnation. It is a testament to all the individuals who have proved it is possible to continue developing ageing technology well beyond what anyone could have imagined. Not just the engine and suspension, etc., but the paint technology and, most importantly, customisation that still keeps breaking into new territory.

Normally, when writing about a custom scooter in this magazine, the owner answers a set of questions, and the writer interprets the responses in a proper journalistic fashion. However, as this is such a historically important scooter, I thought it best for Col to explain his reasons in his own words. So my last thoughts on it are that this is an evolution of the highest degree, and the judges of that will be the scootering public. However, perhaps that part is best left for Nick Greenly, who created it in 1976. I hope he shares the same thoughts: that this is a truly amazing creation and befitting of what he started. For now, though, the last thoughts are with Col…

Col: “I first saw Li’l Deuce way back in 1980-81 when I was still at school, and it left a lasting impression! The owner back then was Mick Stockdale (RIP), who lived locally to me. I would see him regularly riding around the Ashby area of Scunthorpe, but back then you didn’t see many scooters with full-panel artwork, which made it stand out from the others. From then on, I told myself that one day I’d own a scooter like that! Many years later (1991) and many scooters later, I couldn’t believe my luck when the opportunity came up to buy a couple of Lambrettas, both for sale from Mick, one of which was Li’l Deuce Scoot. Both were in pieces and in need of full restoration. My intention was to rebuild Li’l Deuce with a new engine, full chrome work, and tidy up the ageing paintwork; unfortunately, this didn’t happen due to other commitments at the time.

“With the sad passing of Mick, I decided that, out of respect, I wouldn’t go ahead with restoring it. It was tucked away safely for many years, but always with plans to do something special when the time felt right. Along the way, and after owning a few other scooters, it finally became time to look at Li’l Deuce again, but in a totally different way, and that was how the Arai Street Racer came into being in 2012.

“Fast forward 11 years, give or take, and the itch to reinstate Li’l Deuce came back, but I didn’t want to do a modern replica of the original; I wanted it to be a story of this scooter’s evolution. After a lot of head-scratching and brainstorming with Dave from DDK and considering design options, we finally agreed on a modern street-racer approach. My favoured style, while still incorporating the original artwork as a nod to the scooter’s past, and so Li’l Deuce Evolution 2026 was born. It feels like fate took a hand in this scooter’s latest form, as its completion has coincided with the 50th anniversary of its creation by Nick Greenly in 1976.”

Words: Stuart Owen and Col Westfield
Images: Stu Smith

Man and machine

Name: Col Westfield
Scooter Club: Scunthorpe Silhouettes
First scooter: LD150 1981-82 £25
Name of scooter: Li’l Deuce Evolution… 2026 (50th Anniversary)
Scooter model: Lambretta GP200 1970
Time to build & by whom: Steady self-build over about 4-5 months

Engine…
Kit: RB24 Taylor Tuning
Crank: 62 / 116
Carb: Mikuni TMX35
Exhaust: TT Touring
Clutch: LTH
Gearbox: Close-ratio 5-speed, 17 x 46 sprockets
Ignition: Vape Road
Tuning work by: Taylor Tuning

Chassis…
Paintwork: DDK
Powder Coating: Steve Frear
Seat: Corky
Brakes: Front: Casa Performance, Rear: Newfren race
Suspension: Front: BGM-Pro, Rear: Readspeed
Specialised parts: Oiltek long-range tank, bar-end mirror conversion (Oiltek), belly pan, and one-off rear brake pedal

Hardest part of the project: Building it without scratching the paintwork and having to modify or replace parts because they don’t fit. But what do you expect? It is a Lambretta!
Advice for anyone starting a project: Dry build, by far, is the most important starting point; it saves time and money further down the line.

Anything to add to the scoot: Just miles and smiles…

Overall cost: As I told my wife… you don’t get much for £2000 nowadays!

Thanks to: Dave and Claire at DDK Airbrushing for all their hard work and patience in turning out yet another stunning paint job. Darrel Taylor for going the extra mile, as usual, with the engine and technical advice. Steve and Dan for the powder coating, Grant for the welding, and, yet again, a very big thank you to Binny, my very understanding and long-suffering wife, for putting up with me throughout the highs and lows of this latest build (I promise it’s the last – honest!)