The “New Lambretta” saga rumbles on. Most readers of this site, I suspect, will not be particularly interested, having not taken the 2011 Lambretta LN to their hearts. Which is a shame, because, IMHO, although clearly not a classic Lambretta, it paid homage to the lines and spirit of the marque, and had a little Lambretta DNA in it’s blood. Now we have a “New Lambretta” The LamSport.

The new machine, despite being designed by the same Alessandro Tartarini behind the LN design, and who’s radical designs for the range of Caterham Motorcycles I was a big fan of, disappoints me on every level. It’s just an ok looking modern sports style scooter.  With a Lambretta badge on it.
The LN was a decent stab at reinventing a classic machine for the twenty-first century. This is badge engineering at it’s worst. The old Lambretta Motorcycles website from Motom is now down, and I suspect that that is the end of Lambretta LN, which will become an interesting side note to Lambretta history. UPDATE: Further research has found that the LN is still linked to on the Vinh Phat Group website here – so it appears to be in production alongside the the LamSport. And in twenty or thirty years time, when the LamSport is all but forgotten about there will be one or two LN’s left, commanding big prices amongst the  Lambretta collectors and completists. A real shame.
The LamSport is being assembled and distributed by the Vinh Phat Group in Vietnam, who launched the new model in Hanoi last week. I’m sure it will do very well in the home market, at least. As far as I’m concerned, if you want a ‘modern Lambretta’ and you are in Hanoi, you would be better off with an Ebretta.I’m sorry, I’m not going to write about this any more. This upsets me. If you want to find out more, The excellent ScooterNova blog is a good source. But don’t expect to find any more posts on the LamSport on this blog.

UPDATE: My sources tell me that it may not quite be the end of the road for the Lambretta LN, which is good news. I find myself, as a rider of an Innocenti 1960 LI150 Series 2, in the unlikely position of flag waver for the LN, but it is, from all accounts, a good, reliable and stylish modern scooter, and it definitely has my old S2 in it’s family tree. Stay tuned, for more Lambretta LN info, and nothing more about the LamSport!