Would this be a Cafe racer ???

[ukali1066]

I just won this for a lovely £18 !!

The guys at filmjackets.com say it's a Cafe racer style....but not they're not 100% sure....are the patches associated with motorbikes or cars ?

Cheers

 

[Edward]

I'd suggest it's a motorcycle-styled jacket, based on contemporary racing leathers. Something similar to the Red Bull / Lucky Strike jackets you see aroun and about. The only brand name I can dirctly identify on there is the NGK sparkplugs - they do spark plugs for "all kinds of automotive engines" - including both cars and bikes. Motorcycles racers nowadays mostly wear one-piece affairs, the top half of which would be similar to a jacket of this style. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but I've never seen, to my knowledge, a leather car jacket.... I think they mostly wear nylon and other synthetics, flame retardant qualities being more important there than armouring / protection in the event of a spill.

 

[ukali1066]

Cheers Edward....not being into any form of sports I really had no bloody clue !

But....I did like the jacket for that price

 

[Speedbird]

lovely indeed at £18

Hi Ukali,

You certainly seem to have a knack for picking up a nice jacket at a nice price.... :eusa_clap

As to the question, I don't know.... stylistically, it looks to me like an interpretation of a cafe racer style ... but it owes more to the paddocks of the '70's than the earlier Ace Cafe rockers and doing the ton up.....

The patches could conceivably be either cars or bikes, but maybe more likely bikes - the 'devil' is the logo for Devil Exhausts, current aftermarket bike cans - but how old is the brand name? if it has a longer history needs checking. NGK - well, could be either. They are what they are.

Here's an interesting thing though - 'Harrison Gibson' was a big department store in Ilford, East London (not more than a good spit away from the Ace) dating back to the early 1900's. It was burnt down and rebuilt twice, notably the second time in 1959. Could it be that your new jacket doffs it's cap in some way so to speak to this East London landmark? did HG sponsor a race team; or was it just a convenient landmark, like Hangar Lane, to race to?

As for the back - it's cool - I like it! Evel and Eddie, and the murder wall ... oh yeah baby ... it's a star!

Or maybe I am just off with the fairies again!

How old do you think it is anyway? it looks quite fresh and new.

 

[ukali1066]

Haha cheers mate....the snagging of bargains is due to poverty

Not having received it yet I can't offer much info....but I'd say it's retro modern....the seller says he paid £200 for it new....

Interesting what you say about the Harrison Gibson thing...I had no idea

I'll post more when I get it on my scrawny frame...

 

[Speedbird]

yep - poverty will do it!

I would say it is certainly retro modern and probably no more than ten years old. But it's design is inspired by a whole load of 70's and 80's imagery I think. The HG thing could be nothing - but designers rarely throw words up into the air randomly and hope for the best. The designer used those two names in combination together on the jacket so they came from somewhere. Lol - he probably lived in East London and drove past the store everyday or something! lol

 

[ukali1066]

Hey !....Isn't there a Gibson engine ?

Think I've heard that somewhere ?

And someone called SPEEDBIRD should know

 

[Peacoat]

Gibson Guitars have the best sound of any of the top guitars, and are made right here in sunny Middle Tennessee. But the logo font is a bit different than what is on the jacket. I would think it is UK all the way, and that you guys (chaps) are hot on figuring it out.

 

[ukali1066]

Yeah peacoat....I've heard of those guitars...not that I can play one

Just out of interest...we post on a lot of the same threads...is that you in your avatar ? Were you a Nam era pilot ?

 

[Speedbird]

Speedbird .... lol ... yes ... a different thing ... a stylised logo!

weeell... yes, there are scale model engines made by Ross Gibson - the best there is in plastic model engines....

.... there is a book called 'The Difference Engine' by William Gibson, quite the thing apparently though I am not familiar with it .... Wiki says it is indicative of 'Steampunk' whatever that is (I think it has been discussed in the lounge).

There are Gibson Tractors ... and there is Johnny Gibson, a famous dirtbike/speedway rider.

And then there is 'Harrison' ... but "Harrison Gibson" together is harder to locate ... surely an East London landmark, home of a night club called 'room at the top' with a distinct old school motown flavour back in the day is too good a story to pass on even if it isn't actually true... [huh]

 

[Atomic]

Definitely cafe racer style. the snap collar tab looks like it has a fold in it to snap back underneath the collar. Very popular in the cafe scene. The zippers on the back of the for arms arm a little different though. Most moto jackets that I know have the zipper on the top of the arm of the inside of the arm. The idea is that the leather is pretty stiff (thick so you can slide on pavement and not tear the jacket) and therefore harder to bend up and reach the back of the arm. Not impossible to reach, but still. Zipper location is important!

NGK is almost the premier brand for spark plugs. Most racers use NGK. The Devil patch is indeed the Devil Exhaust brand, which is exclusively motorcycle. Its always been geared toward top end racing, they are currently making dirt, atv, and street race exhausts. The even are making Moto GP exhausts too, which is impressive. I don't know what the Chesterfield patch is. The DareDevil patch on the back is total throwback racer. Always had it on the lower back if it was on the jacket. Most of the time its on the butt of the pants, but if its on the jacket, thats where they put it.

 

[Edward]

Gibson Guitars have the best sound of any of the top guitars,

Uhm, I think your spelling is a bit off there... it starts with an 'F'....

and are made right here in sunny Middle Tennessee. But the logo font is a bit different than what is on the jacket. I would think it is UK all the way, and that you guys (chaps) are hot on figuring it out.

Ah..... I see, it's your opinion, not your spelling, that is wrong....

Yeah, I discounted the guitar brand straight off as it's not the right logo. I did google it, but nothing familiar turns up. I should think that they're all 'real' brands relating to competition motorcycling, though. I'd be inclined to agree on the estimate of manufacture during the past decade; I've not seen this specific design befor, but it has been during the past ten years that this sort of racer-repro jacket has been fashionable. A 70s/80s estimate for the specific design 'feels' instinctively right to me, but I really can't claim any kind of expertise as to that.

ETA:

fftopic:

William Gibson is credited as the originator of the Cyberpunk genre (and steampunk and other such terminology draws on that), I'm not personally familiar with his oeuvre, so I don't know if he's written any steampunk himself. The Buzz Rickson Gibson line is named in tribute to him... If I remember the details correctly, the slim-fit, black MA1 was the first item in the range, and is the realisation of a previously fictional Buzz product, worn by one of Gibson's heriones...

 

[BigHairyFinn]

As long as you won't be popping anythin... and for 18 quid, I'd just go "COOL" irregardless... eebers finders at times

 

[ukali1066]

Many thanks guys, all useful info here...

Chesterfields are cigs if I'm not mistaken ?

 

[BigHairyFinn]

The big star logo is also "Converse" sneakers... Daredevil might be a brand or just a moniker... anyways, if it fits, its deffo a keeper.

 

[captaincaveman1]

For what you paid looks like you got a good deal. I see a hodge podge of cafe and modern motorcycle style elements. Overall, it definitely looks the part and will function perfectly fine as a casual jacket.


The rear star reminded me of the Vanson Star jacket.

 

[jon z]

Many thanks guys, all useful info here...

Chesterfields are cigs if I'm not mistaken ?

You're not mistaken. Chesterfield are a cigarette brand.

 

[Peacoat]

Yeah peacoat....I've heard of those guitars...not that I can play one

Just out of interest...we post on a lot of the same threads...is that you in your avatar ? Were you a Nam era pilot ?

Yes, that is me in the avatar, and yes, I flew in RVN back in '67--'68. Longest ten years of my life!

Here is a recent picture of me on the deck of my destroyer (or is it just the deck of my house?)

Edward: Yes, Fender does make a fine guitar, but it just can't touch the full deep sound of a Gibson. I've played in a bunch of bands, and there is no mistaking that Gibson when it kicks off on a solo.

 

[Edward]

Edward: Yes, Fender does make a fine guitar, but it just can't touch the full deep sound of a Gibson. I've played in a bunch of bands, and there is no mistaking that Gibson when it kicks off on a solo.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one... Gibson can keep their fancy schmancy maple tops and their humbuckers as far as I'm concerned. Now, the p90, that's another matter..... lol

 

[Speedbird]

'me with my Les Paul' ..

Slash among many others will agree with you Peacoat... my favourite is the late, very great, Marc Bolan who sang songs about his Gibson "me with my Les Paul... I know I only small but I enjoy living anyway' (Spaceball Ricochet) - ah, the seventies ... those were the days - well, some of them anyway

As for the jacket, it is a very nice jacket and an absolute bargain. Mr Ukali asked what the origins of the patches were and whether it is car or bike racing. It's a bike inspired jacket; a hybrid of London in the 2000's and London in the 70's - the back is without doubt (in my mind) visually informed by Evel (the star was on all his outfits - and Vanson probably took their inspiration from the same place as well) - it is also shorthand for America - think the Airforce/Army white star. The 'daredevil' butt tag just reinforces this theme - it's not an actual brand. It could even be ripped off from Marvel Comics - their Dare Devil character was blind but had internal 'radar' - cool iconography for a speedster. As for the front, this is pure Japanese; NGK is a good spark plug and and a popular aftermarket fitment for hot-ing up - but it is pretty much a universal motif for Japanese and the patch could just as easily been 'Yokohama' another popular motif in this context. 'Devil' pipes are of the same ilk. Chesterfield (cigarettes) sponsored motorsport but less well known than JPS or Marlboro.

I concede my Ilford department store is a massive leap of conjecture and spectacularly unlikely unless as I believe this design was drawn in an East End design house and put together in the Far East. It could just as easily be a hybrid of Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson which would take us into the surreal realms of 'Mad Max' and 'Indy' jackets all in one thread!

If you want to see a really cool expression of two iconic but conflicting Americana images re: jackets, hats and their exponents - check out 'Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'.

In short it is 'Fast and Furious', not 'Quadrophenia' and bears a family resemblance to an original cafe racer, but it is a later generation cafe racer in style, adopted by the kids screaming around on their hot little mopeds that are/were all the rage here in recent years. It's a great jacket Ukali - and I am little envious of the price!