In fact, Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry for the paucity of updates lately, this WILL be rectified in the New Year, when I will be much more organised. Love y’all! Have a great festive season, and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016
Author Archives: crocodilejock
New Lambrettas next May?
uite?A bit of a scoop here, thanks to a reader, Mark, who spotted this on the official Lambretta brand website.
The majority of the text below is copied from his original email to me…
Remember, back in 2012, and then new Lambretta LN scooter? There was an ongoing battle between the so-called Lambretta Consortium and Motom, who produced the LN. As I’m sure you know the Consortium subsequently appear to have won the legal battle and the Lambretta revival turned out to be a very short lived affair. As an LN owner, I’ve always thought this was a great shame and, whilst it was never going to satisfy the purists, I thought that the LN deserved a chance to succeed – and not be strangled at birth.
Fast forward to November 2015 and there’s been a very interesting development over at the Lambretta Consortium’s website today regarding the prospect of another new Lambretta scooter. According to the website, this is due to be launched on 4th May 2016. See www.lambretta.com/scooters for more details.
As always lots of questions remain. For example: what will the new Lambretta look like? Will it bear any resemblance to the LN or even be a freshly produced LN? When will it be available to buy and how much will one cost? What size engines will the new Lambretta have? Will it be designed by Alessandro Tartarini? The teaser SX style headlight and the sketch below hint to something quite LN’ish to me…
On that official Lambretta brand website is a countdown calendar (I’ve pasted in a screenshot of it above), and (according to my calculations anyway) it’s counting down to the 3rd of May, 2016. There’s also a reference to “L’70 Models” Intriguing!
Of course, there’s been a lot of water under the bridge since 2012, notably the launch of the Scomadi, and many Lambrettisti would consider one of these of more authentic lineage to an LN, or whatever a L’70 is going to be… but we’ll see, we’ll see.
So, watch this space, I’ll have a sniff around and see if I can come up with any juicy info. And if you hear anything on the grapevine, let me know!
Scooter Fix! Relaunch – New Canadian Scooter Shop
Scooter Fix! is owned and operated by my online pal Corey Fraser. Having owned vintage scooters since the mid-1980’s, Corey has an intimate knowledge of Lambrettas, Servetas, and some Vespa models. Scooter Fix! is Canada’s only full-time shop specializing in vintage Lambretta scooter parts. They supply quality Scootopia, MB Developments, BGM, and Casa Lambretta parts. Scooter Fix! stock most parts for Lambrettas made from 1958 through to the end of their production. We can even get many pre-1958 parts by special order. As the shop is JUST starting up, not all the inventory is on the site yet. They also have a large selection of good used parts, so if you’re after something in particular, give them a bell.
They also have a limited supply of vintage Vespa parts on hand, but can get most parts needed for them from our suppliers in Italy, the UK, and Germany.
Scooter Fix! aim to provide quality scooter parts at reasonable prices. Contact them by phone on 613-462-1788 or Email. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Scooter Fix! is the official headquarters for the Lambretta Club of Canada. They are located in Richmond Ontario, about 25km south-west of Ottawa.
Will, (I) Am (a Lambretta)
Well, a Lambretta engine anyway. Regular readers might remember the rather odd French, Lambretta powered microcars from Willam… (if you don’t you can catch up here and here). Well, there’s one for sale on eBay. It’s about as back to basics motoring as you can get, although this variant the “Super Comtesse” has four wheels. Cheap as chips (at the moment) and perfect for the Lambretta completist… or someone that wants to travel very slowly and attract a lot of attention to themselves. Check it out on eBay, here.
Reasonably priced classics…
Fairground attraction…
A cute set of three bikes, one of them clearly based on a Lambretta, from a 1960’s fairgorund roundabout. Some scrapes and knocks, so if ‘it’s gotta be perfect’ maybe not for you (see what I did there?) but you might think, for a bit of period fairground memorabilia for £875, (for all three) ‘It’s gotta be worth it’.
Check them out on eBay here.
Silly money?
The price of Lambretta scooters seems to be reaching new heights, as a quick glance at eBay will confirm. A TV175 Series 3, for the best part of £15k, an SX200 for a ‘buy it now’ price of £12k, and an Italian GP for £7,779… All very nice looking scooters… but that’s a lot of your hard earned cash to spend on a scooter.
The first one is, admittedly a beautiful machine, and the only one of the three I’ve seen in the flesh. Restored by the world famous RImini Lambretta Centre… so you know everything will be done to the highest standard. But still… that’s a lot of dosh. Check it out on eBay here.
The second is another very desirable scooter; a British Registered SX200, in champagne and white, still with it’s original Ken Cobbing seat. Matching frame and engine numbers and original panels and bodywork. Bit still… a little steep at £12K?
Here it is on eBay
If GP’s are more your thing… there’s a nice, 1969 original Innocenti 200. Restored to a high standard, and looking lovely in yellow ochre. A steal at just £7,779? If it’s for you, here’s the eBay link
And it’s not just the more desirable models that are getting expensive… here’s a 150 LD going for £4800… something that would have seemed, if not unthinkable, an “ambitious” price, just a few years ago. Here’s the eBay link to the LD
So, are these machines actually worth these price tags? They’re all very desirable scooters, and look like they’ve been restored to a high standard. So, ultimately, the market will decide. It’s hard to see prices dropping in the future, so a classic Italian scooter may be a good investment, even at these prices. But remember, these machines are always better ridden than hidden.
There are still plenty of more affordable Lambrettas out there, but they may be either less cosmetically attractive, needing some work, or complete ‘projects’. I suppose it’s good news if you already own a Lambretta, or are in a position to buy and restore one… but the downside is it’s getting increasingly difficult for youngsters to get involved in our scene.
Solo electra
Cool german electric scooter from the 1970’s. Found on The Marquis, an equally cool blog about vintage motoring, and motorcycle, culture.
Music Monday: The Invisibles; (Could you) Get Lucky…
My latest musical discovery is a dutch ska / rocksteady band called The Invisibles… Watch the video above, and you’ll get a good idea of their vibe.
They do some great (unexpected) covers, and their own stuff too. There’s a whole bunch of videos that I highly recommend that you check out. Check out their YouTube page here.
A Suffragette… on a scooter!
Embed from Getty Images
I came across this image of early woman’s right campaigner Florence, Lady Norman (nee McLaren, 1884 – 1964), travelling on her motor scooter her office, circa 1916. The scooter (a birthday present from her husband), was an Autoped, was an early example of a motorised kick (or toy) scooter. There’s cleary a direct line between the Autoped and the folding paratrooper scooter that were said to have inspired the first Lambretta.
So could Florence actually be described as the first Scooter Girl? Probably!
Incidentally, I toyed with several alternative headlines for this post… “Go with the Flo” and “SuffraJet200” were two of my rejects…
(Photo by Paul Thompson/FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
lambrettista.net 