Remember Eddy Grimstead?

Scooters at Mod weekend at Brighton
Eddy Grimstead on a Vespa SS180 outside the Newbury Park shop on the official opening day
Eddy Grimstead on a Vespa SS180 outside the Newbury Park shop on the official opening day.

I just happened to be in Brighton on 26th August – Bank Holiday Monday. This was the last day of the ModWeekender. On the Saturday there had been a special event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie Quadrophenia.

Bank Holiday Monday Brighton
Bank Holiday Monday Brighton

On the Monday there were swarms of scooters riding around the town and a big display of customised scooters along the seafront. It was good natured and great fun to watch. Quite unlike Whitsun 1964 when mods and rockers fought battles here and at other seaside towns.

Daily Sketch Tues 19th April 1964. Battle of Brighton Beach - mods v rockers
Daily Sketch Tues 19th April 1964. Battle of Brighton Beach – mods v rockers. 75 teenagers were arrested.
Two-tone scooters
Two-tone paint
Eddy Grimstead sticker
Eddy Grimstead sticker With alternative spelling
Eddy Grimstead Burdett Road Advert

When I looked at my photos later I noticed a helmet had an Eddy Grimstead, 331-335 Burdett Road sticker on it. I’d completely forgotten about him. He was born in 1933 in the East End and his father had a cycle shop in Beckton Road, Canning Town. After National Service 21 year old Eddy Grimstead I opened his first shop in Burdett Road – selling, repairing and hiring bicycles. He soon added motorbikes and scooters. It was his cousin Roger, in the Barking Road shop, who started custom spraying scooters.

In the early 1960s the Grimstead shops were importing special models from the manufactures, which you could only buy from them. They supplied special badges, fur seats, lots of extra chrome lights, and different sounding silencers. They even sold speedometers which went up to 100mph, although you’d struggle to get most scooters past 60mph. I found a 1966 magazine article about the Grimstead 200 Hurricane conversion kit to soup up a 180cc Vespa.

Eddy Grimstead customised paint

What fantastic fun! Today’s big retailers wouldn’t be failing if they didn’t sell the same stuff as each other, made shopping exciting, and their customers feel special. They could learn a lot from the Eddy Grimstead story.

After the 1960s Grimstead’s branched out into car dealerships. Eddy Grimstead died in 2013 aged 79.

I never had a scooter. I had a Triumph Tiger Cub, failed my motorbike test, probably from riding too confidently around the block, then passed the car test after only six lessons. I bought the cheapest car I could find, a 1962 Ford Anglia van, which was a great runabout. It was accessorised with a roof and windscreen wipers. That was the end of two wheels for a while. But if you bought a scooter from Grimstead’s, and have any stories or photographs, we’d love to see them.

Alan Tucker

12 Comments

  1. This is an amazing article, eddy was my grandad one of the most humble and wonderful people I have ever know and think will do. He loved his bikes cars and all his clients friends and family. Always loved and never forgotten.

    1. It’s 1972 I had a clapped out Honda 50 brakes were rubbish I mentioned this to my nan, next thing my Dad threw me a Honda Catalogue, and said your nan says you’ve £200 to buy a decent bike, I picked a Honda CD 175 from your Grandads for £174..! Plus carriage by train from London to Sheffield! I was thrilled to bits when it came with an Eddy Grimsted London Sticker on the back of the seat..! I loved that bike. In 2002 30 years later I got a Harley..! X ❤️

  2. I used to live just around the corner to Grimsteads in Newbury Park. I popped in one afternoon after a early day at work on the sites in London. I had recently seen Quadrophenia and had to get a scooter it didn’t matter if it was a Vespa or Lam but it had to be right. I asked if any old scooters were lying about and was sent to the East Ham branch where I was given an address of an original mod that was selling his Vespa. I took a mate and we arrived at an address in Chadwell heath. He had an SS 180 which hadnt turned a wheel since late 60s. He told us he’s mate was selling his Lam. We paid £20 for the SS got it started that night and rode over to Barking to see the Lam. It was under cover at the back of a plant hire shop I paid £20 for an LI 150. Over the moon we were soon out and about reliving the early mod era.Still ride a PX 200 i’ve had lots of scoots still a mod keeps me young and still see the same old croud when we can. Great article it’s the best feeling being a part of somthing special.

  3. I bought a brand new Honda CB500/4 from Eddie in late 1973 from, IIRC, the E14 shop. I remember it was a bloody cold day and I was freezing when I got home to Harrow. Eddie’s adverts were constantly in the bike press and were always a decent guide to the market. Top bloke.

  4. Do you have any old photos of eaddy grimstead in the becton rd e16 I purchased a couple of lambretts from the aprox 1967 regards john

  5. The pic of Eddy Grimstead on a Vespa SS180 is in fact taken outside the Newbury Park shop on the official opening day. It is a cropped version of the original pic taken by the local press.

  6. In 1964 my 16th birthday I had a £60 endowment went to Grimsteds in Barking Road they had the latest lambretter pacemaker li150 on a plinth in the showroom with all the crash bars side bars carriers spare wheel the lot I said that one £177 now the same ones go for 8 to 9 thousand wish I still had it

  7. Great article i was always in Eddy Grimstead’s shops notably the Beckton road shop as my Dad was a friend of Eddy , I i still have Bicycle’s and a Lambretta GP 200 from the East Ham shop , I also bought a Lambretta from the Burdett road shop .

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