Vida Del Pescador

To meet Colin then, in the next millennium, is something of a pleasant surprise. Far from the arrogant, foppish figure portrayed in the image, Colin is softly spoken for a Brummie, polite and good company.

If Colin seems relaxed then that is because he has gone fishing. Permanently.

The one solid clue about his personality from the BASF advert is that Colin does not do things by half. His fishing tours business based in the lake-side Spanish village of Mequinenza is called Catmaster Tours. Colin is the man fishermen go to see if they want to catch catfish the size of a small horse. When the Ebro River was dammed this non-native species was introduced in 1974 by a German for recreational fishing. Since then, these ferocious eating machines have multiplied and grown into a sporting challenge for anyone who thinks they are strong enough to tow a fridge out of the water using a bendy stick and a reel.

Revival revival

Mequinenza may have the weather, wine and some of the best fishing in the world, but it was still missing something for Colin. It was a long way from his rebellious youth travelling all over Britain to scooter rallies with the Brum Runners.

Colin thought life might be more interesting if he got another Lambretta in Spain. It took the Spanish a little while to understand that he meant Lambretta – not Vespa – but eventually he managed to track one down.

True Mod mentality does not allow for half-measures. This lifestyle fans the fires of compulsion. Pretty soon Colin had amassed 24 Lambrettas. One of his fishing clients asked why he would want that many scooters. That was a very good point. Why stop at 24? Why not try to collect every model of Lambretta ever built in Spain and Italy?

Colin soon expanded his collection to models from other Lambretta-producing countries: France, India and Pakistan. By 2016 Colin had gathered together 120 Lambrettas from all over the world, all housed in a massive unit near his home in Spain.