Tag Archives: Magazines

Scooter & Style Magazine, #6

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Its always a pleasant moment when an A4 (ok, C4, envelope pedants) envelope drops through my letterbox with a french postmark… It’ll be the next issue of Scooter & Style magazine, hot off the press…couv6
Issue No 6 is a quality product as ever, with another wonderful scooter collection (it seems every other Frenchman has a garage full of rare and beautiful scooters!) a pristine GP 200 Electronic… various Vespa related articles, and a Maico Mobile feature. But perhaps this issues standout feature is a comparison between two Peugeot scooters… the classic s57, and it’s modern counterpart the Django, both of which have featured in my blog recently. (0k, the Django was a custom build by Deus Ex Machina) .

I’ve got to say, the Django – which I initially wrote off as just another, bandwagon jumping retro styling exercise – is growing on me. After all, Peugeot has a proud history of producing scooters. If Vespa can continue to trade off their heritage, why can’t other marques?

Anway, back to Scooter & Style… another strong issue… if you want to widen your reading materials from the obvious, I’d highly recommend it. You can get it online, here.

 

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Scooters & Style Magazine

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couv5
When it comes to scooter magazines, there are only really two players for most people.
Scootering, and Classic Scooter Scene. Well, now there’s a third. There’s a new kid on the block, and they’re French. Scooters & Style magazine is now on issue 5, and the tagline ‘Yesterday’s Scooter Today pretty much sums up what they do.

goggo1It’s a really classy affair, printed on good quality stock (with a nice thick, glossy cover). The contents, and I’ll run through the full contents of issue 5 in a minute, are very much photography led. I’m not knocking the photography of the ‘big two’ mags, but Scooter & Style does things slightly differently, with the photography really being the hero of every article. There are often full bleed, full page photographs, and a couple of double page spreads, which coupled with the superior stock  really make the images look fantastic. It’s the sort of thing you want to leave open on your coffee table, preferably next to a large cafe au lait!! You’ll get an idea from the images below.

The articles are very good, and the magazine in laid out nicely, although being a graphic designer in my day job there’s always things I’d do differently. The fact that all the text appears in both french and English must present the designers with a few challenges, but it doesn’t get in the way for the reader.

Issue five has some great articles; listed below.

S+S-IMG_6892S+S-IMG_6893First is an amazing ‘secret’ collection of 170 scooters by a mysterious figure known only as Claude. This is a guy who has six, yep six, Lambretta LD’s in his collection (the French built ones, I assume), as well as every single model Motobécane made in the 50’s, and many other marques such as Peugeot, Terot, Magnat-Debon (a new one on me!) Rumi, AGF (Nope, don’t know that one either) Triumph, Durkopp, Maïco and Scootavia (another I’ll have to look up). Fantastic.

S+S-IMG_6894The next feature was on a dude from Lyon, Lucas, aka Brus Custom, who makes some really cool ‘LoFi’ hot rod style customs based on a ’57 LD. The kingsize ‘moon-eyes’ gearshift on this machine looks great. There’s a superb double-page spread of this machine in front of a VW bus he’s also ‘done’.

S+S-IMG_6900S+SIMG_6898A truly stunning Arthur Francis S-Type style SX 225 is given the respect it deserves, ten full pages on this beaut.

Even if your not a Lambretta fan (unlikely, I know, if you’re reading this blog) Scooter sport features in the form of the Scootentole 10h de Magny-Cours. Vespa fans get their fair share, as well as four pages on Vespa World Days 2015 there’s a lovely Primavera in the tried and tested Gulf racing colours. Always works that combo. When you seat upon it a nice French lady showing more than a little leg, it works even better. Then there’s a great article on the battle-ready Vespa 150 TAP, with its 75mm cannon. Nine full pages on that one.Tech articles, rally news and music complete the offering.S+S-IMG_6901S+S-IMG_6902

Scooters & Style is a very different magazine from Scootering and Classic Scooter Scene. It’s got more of an ‘artsy’ vibe about it, and the superior paper stock and layout really make the high-quality photography come alive.

To conclude (nearly) I’d highly recommend this stylish mag. It’ll make a great addition to your reading list. It might even help you learn french. Find out more on their website here, and check out how to order your copy now.

I’ll end this post with an apology (I was going to start it with one, but it didn’t seem to hit the right note) Sorry, it’s been a long time in the writing. Thank you for bearing with me Laurent! Now I’m off to look up Magnat-Debon, AGF and Scootavia scooters…

Scooters & Style Magazine

Back On Target?

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Remember On Target, the independent scooter magazine from a few years ago? I must admit, it was never on my radar, but some of you will know it. Well here’s a video to fill you in on it… and the reason I’m posting it, is I’ve heard on the grapevine that there’s the possibility of a relaunch in 2014. While I think Scootering and Classic Scooterist Scene do a good job, on the whole, I’m all for a bit of competition in the magazine market, so good luck to the fellas. I’ll keep you posted if I find out more.

What’s in the mags…

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Whatsinthemags

A new feature this, maybe a regular if there is any interest. A bit of a rundown on what’s in the scooter mags on the shelfs, and in the bi-monthly LCGB mag Jet Set.

Scootering

I’m not pushing Scootering, but it’s a must buy for me, alway got a fresh bit of info. This month’s is the second or third after a bit of a facelift, and the mag looks all the better for it. The content is pretty much the same though, just presented in a bit more of a contemporary way.

So in addition to all the regular features, there is a nice article on a British ‘oddball’ the Pheonix, with some beautiful shots of frankly, quite an ugly scooter. As usual there are a couple of nice featured Lambretta’s, taking Disney’s Cars movie, Pirates of the Carribean and Baileys cream as their inspiration respectively. There’s also a cracking 1958 Douglas Vespa.

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On the techy side there’s an in depth article telling you everything you ever needed to know about the humble nuts and bolts that hold your machine together. There’s a nice feature on the Troglodytes SC from down in Cornwall. 

Events wise, there’s rally coverage of Woolacombe BSRA Rally, The Ribble Valley Mod and Soul Weekender, Jersey’s “Strickly Scooters” Rally, The “Ride for your Rights” protest, and a Rally in Belgium to Liege Chateau. 

For the more cometitive souls, they also cover scooter racing at Cadwell Park and sprinting at Elvington. 

There’s also a nice double page spread on the “A-Z of the Lambretta”. 

Phew. 164 pages this month… a lot of ads… including a couple of really dodgy ones from “Bradford Exchange”, but also a lot of good content.

JetSet

JetSet, the club mag of the LCGB, which you can only get by signing up… has also had a bit of a revamp lately, and is an extremley well produced, well presented publication these days. Clearly it’s going to be more focused on the Lambretta rather than scooters in general, and it does that from a quite authorative, knowlegabel position. A lot of the features cover the same ground as Scootering… the mechanical section is known as Oily Rag, features ten tools as you can trust in your workshop, there’s a featured scooter club, (Redcar Frontline), and Rally reports… Isle of Wight, York Inset, all with more of a Lambretta owners slant.

One nice feature is a tribute to the late Dave “Iron Arse” Jackson, a reprint of his account of a year on the road in his bid to become LCGB’s best supporting member. He’s not the only one recounting tales of epic journeys on a Lammie, there’s Eden who recounts a tale of the 2011 Coast to Coast ride, lets just say… it wasn’t all plain sailing… or should that be riding. Putting a few more miles on the oddometer was Pete Orchard… who rode his Series One back from Istanbul!

I’ve only just scratched the surface of JetSet’s content… it’s 48 pages packed with Lambretta relevant content. Worth the £21 a year it cost to join the LCGB alone, without all the other benefits you get for joining… (discounted insurance, parts discouts, expert advice, access to the forums etc, etc.)

I haven’t done the other mag, Classic Scooterist Scene yet… as it’s bi-monthly and been out a while, I’ll review it when the next edition comes out.