A pioneer in the world of American Scooters has left us, My good friend Peter Warrick was 62 years old when he died yesterday May 17, 2010 much too young and still had a lot left to accomplish.
This morning I found out and before I knew it my phone was ringing off the hook so I guess its not a secret anymore. I'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing.
I'm hoping the family has time to grieve and everyone will pay their respects to someone who despite his age was redefining the idea of an American cross interstate scooter chain. The entire MRP family and I all extend our deepest condolences to the Warrick family. I enjoyed my long chats with Peter and his mechanic Dick over at the Ft Lauderdale location. Peter Warrick to me was a visionary of where a true American chain properly funded could take the scooter world. He carried it all in his quest to be better than the best ( Kymco slogan there watch out) seriously he was more of what Piaggio USA could be than Piaggio Group themselves, he knew what a Vespa store should be like and in his quest he carried it all. Everyone has lost a good client and a good friend from Genuine to Zongshen he was everyones client and friend. I can't think of a serious brand he didn't carry. In his 12 shops he had Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, Vespa, Piaggio, SYM, Kymco, Adly, Hammerhead, Zongshen, TGB, you name it he had it. He started his first shop back in 1972 and to this date it still carries the original name on its letterhead "Vespa of Ft Lauderdale." I just searched my computer for some appropriate pictures of Peter and I at the Piaggio meeting back in 2007, but I really couldn't find any that were worth sharing with the public, but I will leave you with this. He was always a great guy.
Last year he sponsored Amerivespa. He actually donated more than Piaggio USA from what I hear and he cared about the scooter community he showed that in everything he did that was scooter related. Below are some links so you can watch his videos online. Peter could talk shop and Piaggio history better than anyone I knew. In a short time he redifined the American scooter scene.
As a child I remember watching his TV commercials for Warrick Hobby supply every Saturday morning before the cartoons came on. He was cool guy and I can already see him hanging out with Elvis and all the cool cats he admired. My best goes out to Wally and his family, hopefully they will continue the Warrick legacy and the shops that impressed anyone that came to visit South Florida.
If you have a chance stop and visit the store that started his legacy http://www.hobbysuperstore.com/
The first video features Peter. The second one is some of the shorts I made at his shop.
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