A cut above the usual documentary about scooters… avoiding most of the clichés, and featuring Scootering magazine’s Sticky (whatever happened to him?), I don’t know how I missed this Channel 4 documentary ‘back in the day’ but I’ve got absolutely no recollection of seeing this before. Just watch it, it’s brilliant.
Siobhan Ellis is riding a 1958 Lambretta Series 1 Famebreather (more about the machine in a moment) from the very top of Australia… to the very bottom. In case you hadn’t noticed, Australia is quite a big country. That’s a long way. A very long way. From Cape York to Wilson’s Promontory to be precise… 6,350km (or a gnat’s under 4,000 miles in old money). Making it especially hard the first 800km’s aren’t even on proper roads… but dirt track …dirt track that isn’t even open all year round.
Why?So why is Siobhan doing this mad, mad journey? Well, it’s all for a good cause… Breast & Prostate Cancer Research at St. Vincents Hospital, Sydney.
Why Lammie Drive TWO? Because Siobhan has a track record of doing this, having ridden the 4,700km from Sydney to Perth back in 2009. This time, there are five riders doing it… and I think they are all on Lammies too.
The LammieSiobhan’s scoot is fantastic… a Replica 1959 Scottish 6 Days Trial Lambretta. Which should help a bit on the the first 800k of graded dirt track. The pics show Siobhan’s fine machine with a Targa twin, but for the event she has opted for a super crank single cylinder.
They kick off from Cape York on 23rd of July, ending up in Melbourne 23 days later on the 16th August. To cap it all off, Siobhan is taking the next couple of days to ride back to Sydney. Take a look at the map!
Siobhan’s already received great support… from the LCGB, And the Lambretta Club’s of Germany, Italy and the USA, she’s also receiving great support from Lambretta Evergreen. Check out all the generous sponsors here. But what this basically mean’s the expenses are covered… so everything raised goes to charity. It’s a good cause… so dig deep and chip in.
You can follow her progress, find out more, and contribute on the Lammie Drive 2 Website here or Facebook page; here.
If you do the Twitter thang, it’s twitter.com/LammieDrive
It’s got to be at least a week since I posted about helmets… so here’s something a bit different from Bell… with a ‘weapons grade’ look about it. More than a open face helmet, the additional “muzzle” is ‘purpose built to guard against the elements’. I know when it comes to helmets it’s not all about looks, but this would look great on the right kind of scooter! Available in military colours; Gunny, Black (Matt & Gloss) and Solid Army Green.
I think the Gloss Black looks particularly impressive… in a slightly scary way!
Find out more here: Bell Helmets
I’ve noticed a bit of a trend for this on scoots recently… it goes hand in hand with the “rusto-ration” and “rat look” …and there’s a lot of crossover with punk and rockabilly styles too… hand lettered, humorous, personal, crafted, imperfect, but beautifully so… with an ‘authentic’ calligraphic feel… it’s teh perfect counterpoint to the airbrushed murals and perfect vinyl cut graphics we’ve seen on scooters for years. And I love it.
Ok, so that’s probably the worst pun ever… but that’s the way I roll.
Rock Huson, dressing to match his Series 2 Lambretta, with Gina Lollobrigida in the background. A publicity postcard from the film Come September I’d imagine…
So, I know the name Kelvinator… they make fridges, freezers… that sort of stuff right… oh yeah, and Lambrettas. Of a sort. Well to be honest, I didn’t know that last bit. So, as well as companies like SIL and API, and even Vijai that I know were making Lambrettas under license in the subcontinent, so was a international maker of white goods. Weird.
And there’s one for sale on eBay. Ok, it’s in bits… and it suffers from many of the same ‘styling issues’ as the Lamby Polo that I posted about previously… but for some reason I don’t mind the look of this one so much. Maybe it’s because the paint isn’t so lairy. Or the panels are a bit better. The V*spa style headlight is weird, but not too ugly… and it has got a similar horrible (imho) PX / Polo style horncasting. But if you can live with all that, and you fancy a proper ‘curryburner’ with a difference, you can buy it on eBay, here. And it’s cheap for Lammie.
So it’s not a Lambretta, not even a scooter. But it is cool as… well it’s just cool. The futures retro, low tech, and amphibious dude. You could probably bung an Lammie in the back, push comes to shove. Genuine, restored WWII Schwimmwagen, also the perfect escape vehicle for the forthcoming zombie apocalypse. Yours for only (cough) $150,000. Here; on Old Bug
.
Nice 1967 125 Special with a Supertune paintjob for sale.
Specs look pretty good too… It’s had a complete rebuild by Scootopia in 2009 – around 600 genuine dry miles since then.
“Finished in Rover Metallic British Racing Green / Hawthorn White in Supertune Style. Working Smiths 120mph Speedo Stage 4 SIL 200 (Blank casing) LI150 Gearbox, AF Crank, 30mm Delly PHBH with Ram Air Filter, Brand New AF Clubman (New Style) – only done a couple of miles since fitting last year & sounds lovely. Original Innocenti Front Disc Brake Taffspeed Billet Ally Rear Shock
Scootopia Cut Back Ancilloti Seat (The waffle side type).
Lovely condition, has always been stored in a dry garage – has barely had any use over the last couple of years and has become an expensive ornament – would much rather it went to someone who’s going to make use of it.”
Just my cup of tea, to be honest, wish I had a few spare quid, I’d snap it up.
It’s for sale, in Cardiff, for £3,900. Which sounds about right to me.
Contact Matt on supertune1@hotmail.co.uk
So, what do you get if you cross an electric scooter, with a kids toy, push along scooter… and add a bit of Harley Davidson ‘bobber’ aesthetic into the mix?
The Scrooser, that’s what.
And they call it an “Urban Mobility Scooter” rather than a hipster electric scooter.
Although it doesn’t actually exist as a product you can buy – yet – it looks pretty well advanced. If you like it, you can be part of the story by funding it on Kickstarter… chip in anything from $1 up… if you contribute $3950 you’ll get a Scrooser, early backers edition, personally numbered (2-25). If you stump up $10k you get the Scooser ONE, the first one off the production line.
I don’t know if I love it or hate it… LOVE the fat wheels, clean lines, and lack of visible engine… HATE the hipsters riding it all over the pavement… can see that going down well!
If it was road legal, and had decent performance and range, it would be way cool, and probably knock the Zoomer/Ruckus off it’s spot as my favourite modern scooter.
Via: HiConsumption blog
Find a full review of The Scrooser over at Electric Scooter Expert – a blog focused on this kind of scooter… if you like the Scrooser, check the site out here.
http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/video/2486002597001/?ref=vidshare
This is a wonderful piece of social history, a wedding video featuring a whole brace of Lambrettas from the the Mitcham Goons Scooter Club…
It was found at a car boot sale in Wimbledon by the son of a film historian, Barry Littlechild.
I think it dates from the early 60’s… judging by the machines (several Series 2’s) and it’s probably something to do with the movie “Come September“, starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida, which came out in 61. So, does anybody know anymore? Who’s the bride? Were you a member of the Mitcham Goons? If you were, or you know more of the story, please let me know – I’d love to follow this up… or let the guys at the Wimbledon Guardian know direct. The full story is here, on the Wimbledon Guardian website.
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