When it comes to long-established, highly respected scooter shops in the UK, Armando’s Scooters in Sheffield are surely at the top of the list.
A shop that first opened for trading some 67 years ago (51 years in its current premises) is impressive. But the roots of Armando Pastorelli’s shop have a golden thread running through making a seamless link leading all the way back to 1950s Milan and the Innocenti factory.
That, readers, is proper scootering history “right there.”
Armando, an Innocenti-trained mechanic, started working at the legendary Milan factory at a time when early model Lambrettas rolled off the production line without side panels and with legshields that were only knee-high to the rider.
A short time later, Armando found himself working in England, offering mechanical expertise to Lambretta scooter concessionaires before going on to open his own shop. And so, as they say, the rest is history.
Giulio (left) and Guido outside their iconic shop in Sheffield
Scooter only
Armando’s two sons, Giulio and Guido, are lifelong scooter enthusiasts and took over the running of the family business in the late 1980s, carrying on the family legacy. Two men who are extremely passionate about classic scooters. In all their years of trading, they have never felt the need or desire to deviate from their beloved Lambretta and Vespa scooters. Where many other shops have branched out to accommodate motorcycles or more modern forms of transport to earn a living, the Pastorellis have kept things very real and always will,
From the very early 1980s, Armandos Scooters started to manufacture what became highly desirable customised dealer special P range Vespa’s. All of them are fitted with tuning parts from the Italian legends Pinasco.
Armando’s also had a very big presence on the scooter rally scene, where they could also be relied on to have a stall selling a vast array of scooter parts, ranging from spares to get you home, to the latest tuning and styling goodies.
Their Open Day first started in the mid-1990s, and Giulio thanks the late Kev Walsh for it. Kev was the persuasive instigator of them that’s for sure, Giulio went on to say.
This one day event has become a bit of an institution for the North of England scooter riders, especially those in the South Yorkshire region.
Phil Daniels
By some scooter event standards, it’s quite low-key but is always big on quality scooters and full of the scene’s lively characters. Just two days before this year’s event, Quadrophenia legend Phil Daniels (aka Jimmy Cooper), turned up at the shop to give his seal of approval to a large mural of his character Jimmy that had been painted on the outside wall of the shop. The Pastorelli’s were extras in the film too.
By mid-morning on Sunday, the street outside the shop was filled with scooters. A dry and bright day made for a great atmosphere as people wandered up and down, admiring the scoots already on display.
Just a couple of doors down the street is a venue called The Steamworks, which welcomes scooterists into its massive open-plan building for hot and cold refreshments throughout the day.
Aladdin’s Cave
If you haven’t visited Armando’s before, you’re in for an eye-opener. The sheer number of items they have crammed into the premises is jaw-dropping. Genuine New Old Stock spare parts covering every wall; advertising posters and dealer signage, like you’ve never seen before; 360 degrees of cool stuff everywhere you looked.
Customers were invited into the workshop space to see the latest projects taking shape and also to see a varied amount of scooters for sale. This wasn’t just an open day; this felt like an open house. Entering the shop’s toilet I spotted a series 2 Lambretta side panel handle as a makeshift door handle. I smiled even more when I realised the other panel handle was in place to actually flush the loo once inside. Only the Pastorelli’s could style the WC up.
Speciale 227
A very nice blue and white P Range Serie Special was in the workshop having the Armando’s treatment ready to be fitted with the latest spec Pinasco 260cc engine.
Guido kindly gave me a tour of the area of the shop where the Pinasco tuning parts are kept. At times I find it quite hard to comprehend how far tuning parts have moved on in recent years, forever chasing the next weak link in the engine’s components and then improving on them. This Sheffield-based shop has been selling and fitting Pinasco items for over 40 years now. To say they know the product is an understatement.
Back outside the shop, a Vespa Ape pick-up truck kept the noise levels up, with a pair of record decks sitting in the flatbed. If dancing in the street surrounded by a couple of hundred scooters on a Sunday morning is your thing, get yourself to the next Armando’s open day.
What’s inside counts
Near the front of the shop, I saw a line of three quite different scooters – an SS90 with an Egig 180cc motor, a T5 with a Pinasco 251cc motor, and an LI 125 with an SST 265cc motor. These scooters had engines double or more the capacity of the original ones, which was quite unthinkable some years ago, but now it seems size really does matter under your panels.
Keeping it in the family, Slacker the Pinstriper with four generations of his scootering family.
Two stroke mayhem
All too soon, it’s ride-out time. A large pack of scooters lined up and then set off through the centre of Sheffield, causing mayhem as they went – being led by outriders Giulio on his Red GP and Guido on his Green SX. The ride out ended at a pub up on the hills overlooking the city, where the brothers promptly bought 20 odd pizzas for the riding masses to have a small taste of Italy with their beer.
I left the shop in the early afternoon with a small bag of never to be found again, scootering treasure, feeling utterly humbled at the welcome I’d received from the Pastorelli brothers, Grazie Mille.”
SLUK Machine
In a fairly tenuous link, my White Vespa PX125 “SLUK machine”, as I affectionately call it, was actually supplied new from Armando’s and came to me second-hand via my good friend Dan Guest from York. So far, it’s been mega reliable and, at times, hilarious to think of the journeys I’ve covered on it.
It’s already cleaned and fuelled up for the Kelso National Rally this coming weekend.
Hope to see many of you there
Ride safe SLUKers
Col
