
I feel privileged to post this image from my new online pal Steve Morris – of his Mum and Dad on their Lambretta. This photos captures a perfect instant of joy! Steve has a fantastic Lambretta collection that I’m going to post more about soon!
Regular contributor Darrin Slack sent me these fantastic period pics of the 1949 Giro d’Italia – featuring Italian Grand Prix Motorcycle Road Racer Romalo Ferri, at this point riding for the Minetti team. I don’t know too much more than that, and a Google search has netted little in the way of results, so if you know more, please leave some info in the comments.
Darrin has sent me a wealth of images and information over the past few week, if you like this sort of content, stay tuned for more!
Update
Darrin has got back in touch, and informed me that Minetti were a large Lambretta dealer in Milan, and often Innocenti would showcase their latest models in the Minetti showrooms.
We try and stay away from politics here at the Lambrettista blog. But this is something that affects all Lambrettisti! Rumours have reached Lambrettista Towers that after seeing some archive footage of a Lambretta Amphi-Scooter on this very blog (see original post here), HM Government are buying up vintage Lambrettas at a premium, and converting them to amphibious capabilities.
Jacob Rees-Mogg testing a modified Lambretta scooter
Although not the obvious choice as a sea-going vessel, a converted Lambretta is seen as being more than capable of the short Dover to Calais route, and is being touted as “Just the sort of forward-facing, out-of-the-box innovative thinking this country needs”. A breakaway faction of the government is said to be carrying out experiments in converting Triumph Tigress scooters, claiming the British build scooters are better suited to the task than any ‘Italian Rubbish’. Rumours that the mastermind behind this project is the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris “failing” Graying have yet to be substantiated.
Although the storage capacity of these machines is somewhat limited, it’s thought that with enough converted Lambrettas, the UK can avoid shortages of Camembert, Brie, and several other European kinds of cheese. With the addition of front and rear racks, baguettes and croissants can also be accommodated.
Looking forward to this – Scooterboys – the Lost Tribe. I’ve enjoyed Martin “Sticky” Round’s writing for years. After all, this is the guy who can make a workshop manual entertaining! Due for release on 28th May, it’s one worth pre-ordering. (If you’ve already ordered an advance signed copy via SLUK, then that will be shipped at the end of April).
Here’s the blurb; “Scooterboys are the lost tribe of British youth culture. Unrecognised, uncelebrated and unwanted; misunderstood by a general public who mistook us for Mods. We weren’t Mods though. By the 1980s myself and tens of thousands of scooter riders collectively rejected that label. Instead, we took the roadmap of British youth disaffection and carved a new bypass. This route took us beyond the UK’s faded seaside resorts, allowing us to spread our creed across the continents. Tuned and customised Vespa and Lambretta scooters gave us freedom to roam; transport to live for the weekend. Shared experiences of riots, local hostility and police harassment built strong fraternal bonds that endure to this day. Despite decades of two-wheeled rebellion our threat level was never high enough to put us on the national security radar. This low profile has its benefits. We aren’t doomed to follow the same cycle as Mods. First feared, then pilloried, accepted and finally adopted as part of UK’s rich culture. As British as a vindaloo. The cult of Scooterboy has escaped death-by-public-acceptance, simply by remaining too underground. Too difficult to distinguish from what came before. And that’s just perfect. You’ll never see Scooterboys parodied in TV insurance adverts or low budget fly-on-the-wall. The poorly-rendered caricature is always some cliché Mod on a ‘Christmas Tree’ scooter. If you rode to rallies in the 80s and 90s then this book will mirror your experiences. If you’ve never had a scooter then it offers a rare glimpse of life inside the lost tribe of two-stroke terrorists.”
Available at all good bookshops, no doubt a few bad ones, and on Amazon, here
I’ll be getting a copy, and post a full review when I’ve read it. For more recommendations, see my reading list.
Apologies for the lack of updates, things have been a bit hectic, and the blog has taken an bit of a ‘back seat’. I’ve got a bit of a backlog of posts to get up, but in the meantime, here’s one of American actress and model Carol Wayne, in a leotard, with a Cento.
EDIT: It’s NOT Carol Wayne… apparently it’s her sister, NINA Wayne. Good spot Corey.
Bit of culture (or should that be couture) ladies and gentlemen… inspired by a Japanese teenage biker gang called the Bousouzuku, who funked up their traditional school uniforms, this collection from Anjie JiMin An dates from 2013.
designer – Anjie JiMin An
photographer – Dasha Love
model Assa Ariyoshi – @D1 model agency
make up artist – Charlotte Dickens
hair artist – Hongjong Jeff Kang
stylist – Miguel Santos
contact – freshwalnut@gmail.com
facebook – http://www.facebook.com/anjiean
http://anjiean.blogspot.co.uk/
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