Monthly Archives: January 2017

Dirty Diana…

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Spotted this less than pristine Dürkopp Diana on eBay. It’s missing it’s seats and sidepanels, the engine is seized, and there’s no documents. But it IS cheap, (classified ad price of £795) and as soon as I saw it I though of a headline for a post, so I had to stick it up! The same fella is selling a Swallow Gadabout, NSU Prima, a Zundapp Bella and a Heinkel A0, all in a similar ‘restorable’ condition, so if Dürkopp is not your brand of choice, there are some others for you!

I was going to write a brief history of the Durkopp Diana scooters, but I couldn’t be more thorough than my online pal Tideous Ted, over on the Retrorambling blog. So, if you’re interested, just read this.

Here’s a glimpse at what it could look like after a little tlc. Conveniently shot at almost exactly the same angle!
117381_dur3If you fancy a bit of a rest job on a German scooter with Italian(ish) styling,

Get your bid on on eBay here

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Cool Cats Spotted in Carnaby Street!

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According to Tumblr, where I nicked this image from erm,  found this… this is a picture of Carnaby Street, London, 4th April 1966. It was a photoshoot for opening of new Tomcat Shop. The model Christine Spooner and designer (now property developer) Irvine Sellar. The Lambretta, I think, is a TV175. The cheetah was called Kinna. Rumours that Kinna came from Cheam are unsubstantiated!

Apparently, Tom Jones was also at the shoot. Theres shots with him, Christine, and running down the road with Kinna – but unfortunately I’ve not seen any with him and the TV!

If anyone can think of a better heading for this post, let me know in the comments. I don’t think “Carnaby Street Cheetah” quite cuts it! I’ve ‘tweaked’ one of the suggestions below – added ‘spotted’ because cheetahs have got spots… gettit? Oh, suit yourselves.

From Isabel Costa’s Sixties blog, where there is a ton of stuff on Carnaby Street.

160f68d35debb76a6605d88cf90174feUPDATE: I heard this morning that Irvine Sellar, (the guy in this picture – and owner of a couple of Carnaby Street boutiques) died yesterday. I didn’t know anything about him until I wrote this post, but seems he was quite a character. There’s a good piece here in the Architect’s Journal. RIP.

New, Old School Lids

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Well, they’re new to me. I always like to keep an eye out for a helmet, that while safe (obviously) suits the retro vibe of riding a classic scooter. I’ve posted a few before, like these from Davida. But what if you want to keep that classic vintage look, and wear a full face helmet? Your options are limited. I spotted the Nexx Garage Purist on the Get Geared site… which fulfils the brief! It’s £189.99 and comes with a free tinted visor. nexx-xg100-garage-purist-helmet-cream-1

Get it here on the Get Geared site

 

Funky Moped…

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benelli_moped_ebay_heroFrom the ‘Not a Lambretta, but – files’…Spotted this cheeky little 50cc Benelli Monkey Bike on eBay. It’s not UK registered, but comes with a kosher sales invoice and a NOVA certificate. You’ll need a dating certificate from the Owners Club. The engine works. And it’s a not unreasonable £1,595.00 (classified ad price).

Here it is on eBay

Stolen scooters alert

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This GP was STOLEN from Carcroft, Doncaster – 16/01/2017

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Registration Number – HDT 79J
Please share and keep an eye out.

UPDATE: Another Lambretta – this one stolen from Edinburgh.

Further update: Sorry to relate, but it looks like this scooter has been found, sadly burnt out, after having been joy-ridden. Complete scumbags.

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Just a general note… If you, or someone you know has had a Lambretta stolen, please get in touch, I’ll always try to post on here and tweet about it.

 

 

Rare Lambretta model kit on eBay

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sx_model_kitI spotted this rare plastic model kit on eBay. The scooter is an SX200, and, unlike the illustration on the box, is apparently a very good likeness to the real thing, being based on an original Italian kit by Pyro. It’s on for £200… I remember the days you could pick up a Lammie for that (ok, probably not a SX, even in the “good old days”!). Since I originally wrote this post, it’s failed to sell at £200, and been relisted with a starting bid of £150.

Here it is on eBay

Scootering, Maltese Style.

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20150426_173710Sandro from Malta got in touch, initially interested in doing a deal on the Maserati scooter I featured a while back. I saw he had some interesting scoots, and persuaded him to send me some pictures…

Here’s his Lambrettas…

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Here is his Vespa U… 20150510_192046

The Vespa U is one of the rarest of all Vespas. Looking a lot like the Allstate model produced for the US market, the Vespa U was a ‘bare bones’ economy model. But the public at the time preferred spending a little more for a more refined /well equipped Vespa, and so it was cancelled  after  only machines were 6000 produced. Lambretta had a similar idea with their ‘E’ model, a similar commercial flop. 3,500 U’s were sold off to either Iran or Iraq (accounts vary!)for use by the government post office – and disappeared after that. Today, there are maybe 20 machines left on the planet…and Sandro has one 🙂 So, initially a commercial failure but now one of the most desirable of Vespas!

And here’s his rather lovely Iso Diva Milano.

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It’s a Series 1 (and an early Series 1 at that), replete with super rare period accessories. Itself a rare machine, with only 2,000 series 1’s produced…

EDIT: I’ve just noticed the Iso Milano that was on eBay before Christmas has been relisted, now you can see how beautiful it could look, are you interested? Here it is on eBay

Finally,  here’s some other Maltese scooters…

The scene in Malta is quite strong, with 70 or 80 classic scooters on the road, (and many more in garages and back yards – aint that like everywhere!).

Thanks Sandro, I appreciate the pics, and great way to kick off the New Year on the blog!  If you’ve got a scooter collection, or would like your club featured (wherever you are in the world), get in touch and we’ll see if I can feature you on the blog.

Happy New Year

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vespalambrettaraceHappy New Year everybody! 2017 is a BIG year for Lambrettisti, with, amongst many other things, the 70th Anniversary celebrations taking place. More about that later, in a dedicated post. In the meantime, before I kick off with new posts, I just wanted to wish all my contributors, commenters, supporters and readers a slightly belated happy, healthy and prosperous new year!