Vespa club appeals for scooter lovers to buy unique bike
Scooter enthusiasts are offering shares in a unique bike and sidecar to save it for their club.
Members of the Northants Vespa and Lambretta Club are trying to buy the £1,500 scooter, which belonged to former chairman Dennis Lyon.
Mr Lyon, 64, who died two years ago, had decorated the Vespa PX200 with more than 80 mirrors, 20 headlights and other adornments.
His widow Faith is going into a care home and is selling the scooter.
The club, which has 80 members, has already raised £1,000 in two weeks through donations and a charity event but is now looking for help with the "final push".
Sixty shares, which will also allow people to become members of the club's sister group the Northants Vespa and Lambretta Heritage Trust, are available at £25 each.
Shareholders will be able to ride on the Vespa whenever they want and have pictures taken with it. They will also have a say in its future and would profit should it be sold.
Individual donations will cover maintenance and insurance costs.
Club chairman Martyn Peacock said whenever Mr Lyon turned up there would be two or three new ornaments on the scooter.
He said: "Every time I look at it there is something I hadn't spotted before."
The scooter, which is about 14 years old, comes with a sidecar which Mr Lyon added after he was diagnosed with diabetes.
"His love for it was that great he was determined to get over that handicap and so he had a sidecar fitted to the scooter," Mr Peacock said.
If the scooter is saved, the club will display it at Northampton's Picturedrome cinema and take it to events around the county, including an annual ride-out in memory of Mr Lyon, who was a founder member of the club in 2005.