GRAVESEND: Teenager's mobility scooter Speed Machine gets makeover (From News Shopper)

GRAVESEND: Teenager's mobility scooter Speed Machine gets makeover

1:32pm Monday 6th July 2009 in

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When a local garage saw 17-year-old Sam Scutts’ 4mph mobility scooter was looking run down, they decided to help. Reporter MICHAEL PURTON watched them pimp Sam’s ride.

SINCE he began cruising Gravesend in a mobility scooter, able-bodied Sam Scutts has become something of a celebrity, with national newspapers reporting on his Speed Machine.

Following an article in News Shopper, photographers have flocked to his home in The Avenue to snap him sitting proudly atop the £30 mechanical beast.

However, when staff at Priory Renault in London Road, Swanscombe, saw Sam’s scooter, they could not help noticing its bodywork was a dull grey littered with scratches.

Unable to stand back while Sam rode the vehicular equivalent of a moth-bitten tanktop, they offered to give his scooter a free makeover — they offered to pimp his ride.

Priory’s bodywork specialist Bradley Stevens said: “The scooter was in a bit of a sorry state when it first came in.

“What I’ve done is rub back all the panels, repair the cracks and scratches, put primer and undercoat on, and then painted it a bright blue and written speed machine on it.

“It looks a lot better now, and I think it will turn heads for all the right reasons from now on.”

The scooter still has a maximum speed of 4mph, but this suits Sam, as if it went any faster he would need a licence to drive it.

When he saw his newly pimped Speed Machine, he was delighted.

Sam said: “It looks like a new scooter, I was shocked when I first saw it.

“It is electric blue all over, and all the panels have been rebuilt.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to do with it. We might auction it for charity.”

Before the makeover, the media student at North West Kent College in Dartford had tried to use the scooter to attract the girls, but without success.

His friend Rhys Jasinski, 19, of Shoreham, said he had seen Sam offer a girl a lift only to be rejected.

However, now the Speed Machine has been pimped, Sam believes his chances of pulling the ladies have significantly increased.

He said: “I think the girls will now be more willing to get a lift from me, as the Speed Machine looks really cool.”

So, if you’re a lady looking for a ride on the Speed Machine, or you just want to bask in its blue glow, head down to Gravesend town centre and hope Sam cruises by.