mods vs. skins

A Brief History of the 'Mods' and the 'Skins'.

The ‘Mods’ (modernists) originated in England during the 1960s and were closely associated with scooters. The movement was a backlash against the greasy raucous Rockers of the ’50’s and was exemplified by clean cut Italian suits, neat haircuts and smooth soul music from Tamla Motown. The pop movement of this era was greatly influenced by the Mod fashion and bands such as The Who.

Scooters became associated with this movement because manufacturers such as Piaggio with the Vespa and Innocenti with the Lambretta were producing good-looking, affordable transport for the young men who yearned for independence and a strong identity. They were to claim the scooter as their icon and a stylish way to be seen as a ‘face’ around town, and gather at the south coast of England, all on a reasonable budget.

Customization was a big part of owning a scooter for a Mod. They added chrome accessories, lights and mirrors - the more the better.

Favourite scooters at the time were the Vespa Sportique 150 from 1961, the Vespa GS160 which followed the next year at the same time as the classic Lambretta TV175 Slimstyle, and the faster Lambretta TV200 (GT200) which appeared a year later. See the scootered.co.uk history section for more information.

More recently there was a resurgence of all things Mod - and hence a boom in the scooter market - after the release in 1979 of the cult film Quadrophenia.

The ‘Skins’ (skinheads) descended from the mod sub-culture in England. They adopted at first ska music and later on punk and have also always had close associations with scooters. Skins sadly developed a neo-fascist/racist reputation due the associations of a small but highly visible minority. Within the peaceable scootering community at large, such ‘bonehead’ Skins are not tolerated. Skins typically wear their hair short, dress in boots and braces, have many tattoos and go for cut-downs, choppers and high performance scooters, which they race hard.