Gene Merideth is the Founder, owner and President of Scooters
Originali. He can usually be found on the workshop floor restoring Vespas
and Lambrettas or giving technical advice to our customers on the phone
and by e-mail. He also manages the day to day workshop operations, and
his close contacts with scooter shops and suppliers overseas means that
Scooters Originali stocks the best quality parts money can buy.
Gene was born in the USA but moved to England at a young age. He was living
there when the mod revival happened in 1979, and that first sparked his
interest in scooters. After moving back to the USA in 1981 his family
travelled around and he lived in Oklahoma, and Colorado. They settled
in New Jersey in 1982.
In 1985, when he was 17, he was fortunate enough to find a Vespa P200
locally. His obsession with vintage scooters started there, and by 1988
he owned 5 Vespas and 20 Lambrettas, after buying out a local Lambretta
dealer. He first started working on other peoples scooters around the
same time, using the names East Coast Lambretta Works and Lambretta Restorations.
He didn't officially name the business Scooters Originali until 1992.
2008 is the 20th anniversary of Gene running a scooter company.
Nowadays, Gene still owns many scooters, but considers his Lambretta TV200,
the one he bought in 1988 as part of the Lambretta dealer buy-out, as
his main ride, and his Lambretta F as his main project.
He also collects Northern Soul vinyl records and has a pretty extensive
collection, along with lots of ska and 2 tone vinyl. He likes to DJ whenever
he gets a chance. Contact
Gene
Gene in the early 1990s, at the Checkered Demons rally working on
his TV200, the same one he has now, and his SX200 in the background.
Andrea Andrews-Kolva has worked for Scooters Originali since 2003. She acts as the company's Financial Controller as well as
carrying out the general everyday running tasks, including being responsible for mail order. She'll probably be the first person
you speak to on the phone when you call us.
Andrea was born in the UK and grew up on the Isle of Wight. Her interest in scooters started off when she watched a neighbour work on
vintage Vespas and Lambrettas through his garden fence. She took her first ride on a scooter at the age of 14, in the early
80s. Its wasn't very auspicious, as she popped about 5 wheelies in a row. It all worked out though, and she started attending
rallies in the mid 1980s.
She moved to the USA in the early 1990s, and after a break from Scooters, a move back to the UK, and then moving back to the USA,
she bought another Lambretta, and the old obsession took hold again whilst living in Connecticut. After a short stint working for
Scooter Centrale in Hartford, she started working for Scooters Originali and moved to New Jersey.
Andrea currently owns a Lambretta DL200, a Vespa GTS which has replaced her 4 wheeled vehicle, and her current (everlasting)
project is a Lambretta series 2 TV175. Contact
Andrea
Powerhouse Books NYC launch of "Made in the UK" - from left - Noel,
Gene, Andrea, Claire, Bev.
We do have other staff but they are too shy to want their picture and details put on the website. In fact, Gene and Andrea had to be forced to do it, and still don't really feel comfortable with it! We love to meet our customers face to face though, so if we see you at a rally, or on rides, come up and introduce youself.
