Big Chris presents a delightful little Vespa, a Douglas Sportique to be precise, the very last model of Vespa to be made in England.
When the final Sportiques rolled off the production line in 1965 at the Kingswood Works in Bristol, their tiny 8in wheels left behind a legacy that has grown over time and become something of a legend within the classic Vespa movement. However, Douglas (Sales and Service) Ltd did retain its connection with the marque as the company continued to be the official importer of Vespa scooters for a further 17 years after its manufacture of machines had ceased.
Douglas or Piaggio?
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Having mentioned this fact, now is an ideal time for me to explain Douglas’s connection with the Vespa scooter and the subsequent confusion caused by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre (DVLC as it was known until 1990, and DVLA since), not keeping its house in order.
As previously mentioned, the last Douglas-built machine came off the production line in 1965. However, the Douglas connection didn’t end there, as Douglas Sales and Service continued to import the Vespa from Piaggio, the parent company over there in Toscana. This continued until 1982 when the company lost the deal and Suzuki Heron ended up being the importer until about 1987. Piaggio UK, and now Piaggio, has been the official importer since that time.
Interestingly, it was Peter Agg of Lambretta Concessionaires, the gentleman responsible for the Lambretta first appearing in the UK, who was also a big part of Suzuki Heron. So, after years of persuading dealerships to stock their brand and selling the benefits of the Lambretta over the Vespa, he was now responsible for selling the Vespa….
Unfortunately, the DVLC didn’t amend its systems to reflect these changes and paperwork was never changed from Douglas to Piaggio for registration purposes. Hence people will claim that their Vespa P Range is a Vespa Douglas, because that is what it states on the registration document.
In an attempt to simplify this, if your machine is one of the models that Douglas produced up to and including the Sportique and was registered in 1965 or earlier, (with the exception of maybe an unsold example), then it is a Douglas Vespa. Any model from that time on is a Piaggio Vespa, although it could also be a Motovespa, as Douglas did also import models from the Spanish licensee such as the lovely 125 Super smallframe.
The Sportique
The Sportique was a 145.45cc rotary valve, four-geared machine, running on 8in solid-type wheels. Production was from April 1961 until, it is believed, February 1965.
By this time Douglas Vespa sales were dwindling, as the popularity of the scooter was in decline. Possible reasons for this were the new, affordable small cars such as the Mini and that buying something on hire purchase was now easy and socially acceptable.
If your machine is one of the models that Douglas produced up to and including the Sportique and was registered in 1965 or earlier (with the exception of maybe an unsold example), then it is a Douglas Vespa. Any model from that time on is a Piaggio Vespa
Tim’s tale
In a final attempt to raise the saleability of these flagging machines, several variants were offered, with the inclusion of accessories, attractive paint schemes and/or chrome panels. Unfortunately it was too late, although in retrospect we should be thankful that this happened as these machines are wonderful, relatively inexpensive by comparison to other classic models, and oh so delightful.
Tim Lewis was born 61 years ago in a village to the south of Wakefield but was brought up in the Rothwell area of Leeds where he has lived ever since. His first recollection of being interested in scooters was when a friend of his cousin had a Lambretta; it was a Grand Prix 150, and he fell in love with it.
One day, his cousin came to Tim’s parents’ house and asked if he would come and look at her car as someone had bumped it. It was a little Fiat 127 and as he looked around the car for damage, hidden behind the car was the Lambretta, with a ‘for sale’ sign on the seat. And that was it, he bought his first scooter. This was an original Italian machine which he paid £180 for; this would have been around 1981.
Tim loved the scooter scene and the freedom of being mobile on his very own machine. That was until about 1984/85 when he was knocked off it. The Grand Prix was taken back home, put in a stable and all but forgotten, until it was eventually stolen. Since that time, Tim has had more than his fair share of bad luck and it was while he was home alone during the pandemic that he decided to put an end to his longing for the scooter scene and finally get back into it to give him some focus and direction.
He purchased a Series 2 Lambretta and has stripped it down with the body currently away with Dave Dickenson for a beautiful new paint job.
Fresh air
With his renewed interest in the scooter scene entering his body like a breath of fresh air, and now taking care of his elderly father, Geoff, he began to
spend far too much time trawling through the internet and social media for all things Vespa and Lambretta related. This is never a good thing as it has the potential to become expensive, which it proved to be, as Tim fell head over heels in love with a beautiful Douglas Sportique.
Tim researched the machine and contacted the seller; an offer was made and the scooter headed north. Since the time of his ownership, Tim is meticulously putting every little thing correct on the machine, such as a genuine new old stock (NOS) kick-start rubber and grips. This has become a bit of a pleasant obsession with Tim, and a nice distraction; during the photo shoot I remarked that the badge on the horn casting was not right and was actually a copy.
As I was typing up the story, Tim called and informed me that he’d managed to source an original NOS item from Matthew Phillips at Douglas Parts Finder. These are rarer than a rare thing and apparently made of pure unobtainium! However, one is on its way to Tim for him to swap over as soon as it arrives.
Unfortunately, Tim is having a few issues with his legs at present but is determined to get out on his delightful Douglas. One interesting alternative is his idea of possibly fitting a nice sidecar to the machine, which will give him the confidence that he isn’t going to take a tumble and possibly damage his pride and joy, or himself in the process. Whichever way Tim decides to go with his scooter, it would be great to see it out and about.
