The Colt family of mobility scooters has been the poorer cousins of the Celebrity range for many years. While the Celebrity dominated the top end of the market with classics like the Celebrity X and the ever popular Celebrity XL8, the Colts appeared to sit uneasily between them and the boot scooter range, the Go Go. For Pride it appeared that the Colt was simply a catch all category in which to drop their less successful models such as the ill-conceived Colt Twin. With all this in the background one would expect that the launch of a new Colt would yield little more than yawns and rolling of eyes, however with the Colt XL8 all that has changed.

The release of a the Pride Colt XL8 - and to a lesser degree the Colt Deluxe - has finally given the Colt range an identity, a clearly defined position within Pride's offerings: that place is best described as 'Sporty'. I know that sporty is not a term readily associated with mobility scooters but it is the best fit. The Colt's look are rugged without being overly agricultural (unlike the Ranger), and it is supplied with meaty 13" by 4” solid tyres front and rear on sporty (there’s that word again) grey rims. The Colt has a solid if unspectacular ground clearance of 3” meaning it is comfortable bouncing over obstructions and curbs of around 4”. This should be more than adequate for urban use and light off road terrain, but a Breeze this is not!

The weight capacity of the Colt is an impressive 28 stone (around 400lbs) which puts it comfortably in the bariatric range; although not at the level of super heavy weights like the Mercury M48 GT. Ride quality is handled with rear mounted suspension that evens out the bumps with feeling soggy, front suspension is absent and is a nice to have but would probably have bumped the price up considerably. Steering duties are performed by a wrap around delta tiller that offers solid control of the vehicle

The build quality is as we have come to expect with scooters under the Pride brand, excellent. Lighting is the now ubiquitous LED units chosen for their brightness and energy efficiency, crucial when being used on a battery powered vehicle. Not that the Colt is in any way under powered, with twin 12v batteries offering 50 Ah the Colt has a range of over 20 miles per charge.

As with all 8mph mobility scooters on the British market the Colt XL8 is supplied with both electro magnetic and mechanical brakes. In addition it is supplied with a rear view mirror and removable shopping basket.

The recommended retail price of the scooter is around £4,500, which is clearly very high, but deals are to be had if you shop around as some dealers were letting the Colt XL8 go for around half price. If you can find it at the right price the Colt is an excellent 8mph scooter that would give many years of reliable service in all but the most extreme conditions.