luna landing 2

:: Chairman's foreword: pete davies ::

I don't think any of us could have predicted how good 20 Luna line machines could look in the hall at the Sports Connexion centre in Ryton on Dunsmore. The annual Vintage Motor Scooter Club Extravaganza is one of the biggest custom shows in the country and the Luna Owners Club had well and truly hijacked the event. I arrived at the venue at 10am to find a queue of people waiting to go into the show. I duly paid my money and entered the hall and the first thing that hit me was our display. It couldn't have been in a better position with the scooters lined up in two rows of ten machines. Breathtaking isn't the word for it.

I must admit it almost seemed surreal seeing so many Luna line machines in one place but surreal it really wasn't, it was 100% real. The show was a good chance for me to meet up with two old friends Doug Miller and Christine Jackson and then a chance to meet new friends Sarah, Justin, Adam Winstone, and Czechers. Fair play to Adam for riding his Vega from Oxford to the show - a true Luna-tic if anyone deserves the title.

I heard nothing but praise and good comments about the display and its all thanks to the work by Sarah and Justin who organised the 2nd Luna landing (Kelso being the first in 2004). This years Isle of Wight rally sees the 3rd Luna landing and Bridlington sees the 4th. Bridlington is also the weekend of my 40th birthday so if for no other reason, come along and have a beer or three with me. These events can only serve to further promote our club and by the looks on some peoples faces on Sunday there will be a few more people looking to buy Luna line machines.

pete davies

:: luna-crew ::

enlargements are captioned

if you/your luna aren't up there, but were at the show and got snapped, send in your photo to be included!

:: luna prizewinners ::

announcing the results:

vintage class, other lambretta, winner: danny hodgetts of scootopia's green 50cl.

vintage class, other lambretta, runner-up: paul waterfield’s orange 50cl, restored with the help of jem booth.

vintage class, unrestored, winner: danny hodgetts of scootopia's turquoise 50cl.

:: thanks from brian (vmsc) ::

Just wanted to say a big thank you in getting so many Lunas in front of the general public, I received so many comments from the scootering public. who were just amazed. Can you, maybe via the website, extend thanks from the VMSC to everyone who exhibited.

As always we are constantly looking to improve our show, and any feedback is greatefully received.

Thinking on 12 months, if we dare, do you have a feeling if your group would want to attend again? - there are a couple of reasons I say this a) if you want to come again we can get you booked in early and try for a wall site, which gives you greater scope for banners and a more formal exhibition, and b) if we can be sure of a significant number of Lunas, we can consider actually having a class for Lunas only, instead of having them grouped with other Lambrettas as was the case yesterday.

Just to be clear, we would be delighted to host you again next year, and it has been a pleasure to work with you through this period

Regards Brian

:: luna line-up ::

:: luna journal: dave booth ::

Two weeks to go the VMSC at Coventry!!!! I had better get my finger out and bring my Cometa down from my boudoir oopppps! Attic. Wow! That was a job and a half, but never the less it came down without a scratch. Sad thing is:- I feel all forlorn looking at the empty space up in my attic where my Cometa had been languishing for many, many months. I made a mental note, to either return it after the show or replace it with another of these “ beautiful machines” (that’s a very subjective thought).

I commandeered the help of my good friend Steve Mattock and together we assembled my Luna in arctic conditions in my garage.

For the morning of the event I set my alarm clock to wake me at 7 am, the journey would take around 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours. It must have been latent excitement, for I woke unaided at 6 am. After much tossing and turning the Missus had had enough and told me to get out of bed. I have to do what “her indoors” says, so I dutifully dressed and made her a good strong cup of tea and brought it up for her, with a peck on the cheek I said my adieus and I got my motor runnin’ and headed on up the highway. I was transporting the Cometa by car, the drive down to the event was very satisfying, for the sun had got his hat on and he was out at play. I had to wear sunglasses it was that bright.

I was eagerly looking forward to meeting up with other members of the LOC. I only knew one of the other entrants and that was Andy Green (czechmate). He had purchased Vega stuff from me in the past and had called at my home to collect them. Andy is a very easy person to “get along with” and he stayed up at my home chatting for a good part of the day. It was only when I put the milk bottles out at the front door and made our cat go out for the night, that he realised just how long he had been here. (only kiddin Andy).

I was coming to the do on my own (Billy no mates!) and my concern was how I was going to extract the Cometa from the back of my car. It was a two man job to get it in and it would be a two man job to get it out. On arrival at the venue I was directed to a remote car park, I could not see any scooters only 4x4’s and motor homes. I switched off, locked up and headed for the hall. Yap, yap yap, was all I could hear, there was no brmmm, brmmm, brmmm, pop, pop, pop. What was going on? Was I at the correct place? Was this the correct day? At the entrance to the hall all I could see were geezers in chequered jackets, shirts and ties. What on earth was all that noise! I was at the wrong do, this was a dog show not a scoot show. The show was for a certain breed of canine it was for those dogs that are the size of a guinea pig and never stop that irritating yapping. I am certain that most of the blokes that were parading around with these animals (ride on the other bus) if you know what I mean. I certainly did not feel comfortable in amongst them. Post haste I made for the exit and found myself stood outside scratching my head in bemusement.

Further round the complex was another hall and I guessed this to be the place that I was searching for. Low and behold, Eureka! It was full of real men-Oh! I am not certain of that, but never the less this was the place I was looking for. It was a bustling hive of activity, for people were setting up stalls and lads were bringing into the arena their pride and joys. Unbelievably as I queued to receive my entrance pack the only person that I knew was right in front of me-Andy. How fortunate was I? Andy very kindly offered his help in the removal of my machine from my vehicle and together we made our entrance into the hall. It was a very moving moment for me, as people looked at my machine whilst we wheeled it into the designated area for all Lunas. I could not help but reflect on what was the culmination of many months of hard work in restoring this Cometa, for when I had purchased it, it was only half complete and been stored outside for quiet sometime.

The day seemed to fly by and during the morning I was introduced to many of the LOC, sorry, but I am hopeless with names (must be my age), I met the very bubbly Sarah, who always had a smile on her face and of course Justin was ever present. I must state. that the resurgence of the Luna line models must be partly credited to these two fantastic people, who, with the aid of a band of luna devotees have given this much maligned marque credence amongst the die hard full panelled scooter brigade.

I for one would not have been present at the show had it not for this website. So, although there have been other Luna gatherings in the past I am certain that through exposure on their site these get togethers can only get bigger and better. The downside to the media exposure generated by this site is the upsurge in retail values of Lunas, Bloody ‘ell you have to move fast and have wads of cash if you wish to purchase a full scoot or even a pile of bits nowadays. My day was not spent entirely focusing on Lunas, for I took along my camera and snapped many fine restro projects of all types of scoots.

There was a massive turnout of scoots ridden to the event by many individuals and I took several photographs of show standard scooters which were parked up row after row outside. The real bummer of the day turned out to be the Great British weather. In the morning as I stated earlier it was glorious, but as the day progressed it bucketed it down and those poor souls who had ridden to the event had to endure the return journey in a monsoon. Here is a strange aside:- once inside the hall, exhibitors had to wear a wrist band to show that they could come and go without having to pay on re-entry. Of course I was wearing mine and had popped in and out quite a few times during the morning to snap away with my camera.

On one particular occasion I was desperate to “splash my boots” I nipped out to the loo and on my return the doorman said that he did not need to see my wrist band, he recognised me from when I left. How the hell could he remember me amongst the thousands of people that were coming and going throughout the day. Blimey! That bloke must have been a psychic. I still don’t know how he could tell me from all the other folk that were in the hall, how very strange! I spent a good deal of time in the company of Jim Brierley “top guy” and also had a good chat with tough guy (weather wise, of course) Adam Winstone, he had ridden his Vega to this event, he seems to ride to all the events, perhaps he should have been given an award for this! Without dissing any of the award results, several people commentated on an overlooked machine which did not pickup the “best unrestored machine” it was in fact the NOS Vega that only had 6kms on the clock, surely this is the best unrestored example of any of the exhibited scoots period!

A big hello goes out to all the people that I met and befriended and I am sorry that I did not get the opportunity to meet others that were there. I saw Pete Davies on many occasions but he was always in deep conversation with others. I believe Doug Miller was present, I missed him also. Still, I came away a happy bunny for I managed to purchase enough parts and spares to rekindle my enthusiasm for the latent Cometa project that has been lurking forlornly at the back of my garage. Perhaps this is the replacement for my space up in the attic-watch this space.

dave booth

:: daves 'fx' gallery ::

:: luna journal: vegagirl ::

luckily the nut and bolt restoration of my vega, that we started before christmas, and it's new livery, were just completed in time for the long-awaited vmsc show, which was to be the prestigious 'lunalanding no. 2'. the journey on saturday from hastings to ryton with justin and my pristine white vega was uneventful. we were looking forward to meeting for the first time the owners of the other 18 expected lunas. i drove most of the way in the little suzuki van we’d borrowed from our mate ian (a member of our club - the 1066 saxons sc). it was ideal as it was small enough for my feet to reach the pedals. justin dozed or ate slices of pork pie donated for the journey by his kind german mum, concerned we hadn't had a proper lunch.

on reaching the event venue at ryton, we were welcomed by a smiling lammievegaman (jim brierley) and staunch vmsc show organiser brian crook. no scooters were to be seen (except the cometa stuffed into the back of jim's ford focus). the sports hall was populated by show dogs, and smelt of sweaty feet....

we followed jim's car to our nearby b&b where we met snappy dresser czechmate (andy green) and the warm-hearted mrs czech (jitka). we moved my vega into czechers' van (his blue/green vega-lui hybrid was as well-turned out as he was) and all piled into the borrowed van to get to the pub. there, we were met by cezeta (the now cezeta-less nick), smart-cookie kylie (who shattered justin's perceptions of aussies), and their mate jason. we ended up forgoing the vmsc pre-show event as we had such a laugh in the pub.

after a great british fry-up but still slightly hung over, i rode my vega the couple of miles to the show venue. by 8am there were a few luna owners already there including justin's mate, matt capital, and christine jackson. mark was to bring the only 50c model to the display, but his transport had fallen through and he wasn't able to come. by chance, christine had bought an extra scoot – and it was a 50c! that meant all the main luna models were represented. i didn't really think we'd be lucky enough for all expected 20 lunas to turn up, but the luna owners just kept on coming. adam winstone arrived having ridden the 50 odd miles from oxford on his 125cc vega plus flattened seat, and even nick & kylie managed to roll in just past 10am from the local b&b.

unfortunately belinda’s original transport broke down that morning and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to make it. her husband chris phoned and asked: did i think the vega would fit into a berlingo? i guessed it would as jim had managed to fold his cometa into the back of a focus…by early afternoon, the 20th luna, belinda’s black 135cc vega, had made it to the display.

respect must go to christine, and to doug miller (who’d ridden his vega from leicester), who both seem to have been into lunas since they first came off the production line. christine entertained us with tales of how she'd been into motorbikes since the age of 11, being surrounded by her engineer brothers. she unassumingly told us how she had won prizes racing scooters in the 60's, and had hill-climbed competitively on a vega. she was at the show with her nephew and 16 year old niece kate who regularly rides a lui. dave booth raced vegas in the early 70's and, though he professes not to remember too much about those days, his passion for lunas has obviously endured. last but certainly not least, i fleetingly met luna enthusiast pete davies, founder and chair of the LOC - a busy man who still manages to devote much time and energy to writing about lambrettas and preserving their heritage.

throughout the day there was much interest in the luna display, and i overheard several burly scooterists confessing they’d always liked lunas. three prizes were won by LOC members: danny hodgetts had brought five scootopia machines, two of which won prizes, and paul waterfield’s newly restored 50cl, was also a prizewinner.

the day passed all too quickly in a blur of new faces and luna chat. at the end of the show, as people started to wheel their lunas away, justin called everyone back to line up their lunas for a photo opportunity. 20 lunas in a row was a breathtaking sight, and doug summed it up perfectly saying:

"that brings a lump to my throat that does...i haven't seen as many together since the dealers in the 60's".

i left the spectacle of lunalanding2 already looking forward to another meeting of the lunatics at the vmsc next year, and bumping into our new luna friends again at rallies. the iow and bridlington have been mentioned by LOC members as favoured venues for the next luna landings.

sarah

:: vmsc show 2006: magazine articles ::

source scooterist scene magazine (issue 49, Jun/Jul 2006) - reproduced courtesy of classic scooterist scene

back issues available from classicissues.com


source scootering magazine (edition 239, may 2006) - reproduced courtesy of scootering magazine

back issues available from classicissues.com


:: other vmsc shots ::

if you have anything to add - an account of your day, pics or just a simple quote then send them to mail@lunabase.co.uk and we will include it in this page - cheers.
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