Continuity mistake: Jimmy crashes his scooter into a post office van. The rider is a stunt double who looks older than Phil Daniels, who played Jimmy.
Visible crew/equipment: In the final scene before Phil Daniels rides the scooter off the cliff you can see a shadow of the helicopter filming the scene.
Continuity mistake: Leslie Ash's dark shoes change to white trainers halfway through the Riot Scene.
Factual error: In the Brighton street scenes the parading air cadets are wearing service issue pullovers. These were not introduced as part of the uniform until the mid seventies. During the sixties air cadets would have been wearing battledress tunics.
Revealing mistake: During the end scooter sequence along the cliff tops, you can clearly make out wheel tracks stretching out ahead of Phil Daniels' bike, yet he hasn't been over that ground yet - these are presumably left-overs from a previous take?
Factual error: There is a view from Phil Daniels window where a High Speed Train (first operated in about 1975) goes past - the film is set in mid 1960s.
Revealing mistake: The police in the riot scenes have got hair hanging well over their collars - they are supposed to be POLICE in the mid 1960s whereas in fact they are a mob of scruffy layabout 1970s extras.
Continuity mistake: During the scene where Spider returns to the club and the Mods are off hunting, John Altman is seen leaving the club and riding on the back of a scooter. Second shot, he's dancing.
Factual error: In the scene where jimmy visits Pete at his breakers' yard, the grafitto 'NF' can be seen scrawled on the corrugated fence. NF stands for 'National Front', a far right political party with racist agenda that wasn't formed until 1967.
Factual error: Routemaster buses have the late 1970s white London Transport logo, not the gold lettering they should have for the mid 1960s when the film is set.
Factual error: When Jimmy gives Steph a lift home from work on the back of his scooter, they pass a Mk3 Ford Cortina & Renault 5. These were not produced until the mid-seventies.
Factual error: The police vans used in the riot scene are Austin-Morris J4 models, with B registrations, dating them to 1964. The Austin-Morris badge on the front of these vans was only fitted to vans made between 1971-1974. If it is a 1964 van the badge on the front should read Morris Commercial or Austin.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Jimmy is run over by the post office van, his scooter changes, from an Li150 Lambretta, which he has been on all the way through, to an SX style Lambretta, which has the hexagonal headlamp, not the round headlamp as found on the Li.
Factual error: The bikes are all wrong. Rockers at that time went in for the 'Cafe Racer' style with clip-on handle bars, rear set footrests, bum stops etc. The bikes in the shots en route to Brighton had high bars; five years too early.
Factual error: This error occurs throughout the film, but is most noticeable in the sequence where the mods have arrived at Brighton, and Jimmy & Steph are walking along with the scooters parked behind them. One can see Lambretta models that are yet to be produced. There is an abundance of SX and GP models. SX's were not produced until 1966 and GP's were not seen until 1969. Look carefully and one can see an Indian produced GP that didn't reach the UK until 1970.
Factual error: During the party scene, as Jimmy changes the record that's playing to My Generation, a copy of The Who Sell Out can be seen in the background. This LP wasn't released until 2 years after Quadrophenia was set, in 1967. The actual version shown is an early 1970s re-issue, so it's actually around 10 years too early.
Factual error: Time travel abounds! As the Air Cadets are seen parading along the seafront they pass a cinema which is showing the mid 70's movie "Heaven Can Wait".
Factual error: Too many post 1964 cars in this film to list.
Continuity mistake: In the party scene, the Who's Quick One/Sell out album is in a different position the second time it's shown.
Revealing mistake: In the scene where Jimmy has just picked Steph up from her place of work. They are cruising along talking, if you look at the twist grip gear change on his scooter, it is in the first gear position for the entire time.
Answer: Yes, you're right! The last scene shows a scooter with no windscreen.