Category Archives: Restoration

F is for Family… F is for the Future…

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Remember Rod’s Aussie barn find…  the controversial F with the D type forks? Well. there’s been a bit of progress… Rod has found an old dealer and bought their entire stock of model F parts… so he has most of what he needs for his restoration. RMF-Partsphoto 5 RMF-Partsphoto 6 RMF-Partsphoto 7

He’s also started to strip the scooter down with the help of the grandson Harry… who has been designated his chief mechanic. He’s become the envy of his classmates, helping his grandad restore a vintage Lammie.Familyphoto 2 Familyphoto 3 Family SpannerFamilyWoopsHis brother Hugo loves the Lambretta too… this means Rods F will have a great home and remained loved for the next 70 to 80 years… theirs a legacy to be proud of!Familyphoto

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Riding Lola. Calm down. She’s a Lambretta.

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!&I came across another nice Lambretta blog the other day which is worth a look – Riding Lola is “The Adventures of a 1963 Lambretta TV175 and her current owner”. But the TV is actually Lola 2… Lola 1 was a LD150. The owner, Glen is from Dallas Texas… and his blog features one of the best Lambretta images I’ve seen for a while, Lola next to one of my favourite three-wheelers… the Bond Bug In fact it’s my favourite bike car combo for a while, although it doesn’t ‘match’ the bug quite as well as a Quasar… img_1880
I love the old fella in the shot too… in fact, it could be my grandad… he’s wearing the exact gear my grandad used to… the exact trilby hat and car coat!

Here are some shots of Lola (1) after being restored by Glen. The Dallas skyline makes a nice backdrop on a couple… for more, and to check out Lola 2, visit his blog. It hasn’t been updated for a wee while… but I can empathise with that, sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.
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F is for FIND – Aussie barn find!

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photo 5 photoOne of my readers, Rod got in touch from Western Australia yesterday, very excited about a scooter that had turned up in a shed where it had sat, unmolested for the last 35 years. It’s a Model F, The F is a pretty rare sight these days… I think by the time it was being produced in ’53 to ’54 the panelled LD was becoming the dominant Lambretta model, and they were of course also still selling the latest incarnation of the D model, one of Lambretta’s most successful models to date.

Something in the back of my mind tells me the E’s and F’s were more successful as the front end of Lambretta’s commercial range… but my knowledge of these vehicles is almost non-existent, so maybe you could enlighten me if you know more!

photo 3  Anyway, back to Rod’s F. He managed to pic it up for A$350. As you can see from the pics, it’s not in too bad condition, and Rod says everything is there, and completely original, barring the lock for the boot cover plate. So if you’ve got one of those around, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with Rod.photo 4 photo 5 photo 6photo 7 photo 8 photo 9 photo 10These wonderful  tax discs tell their own story… the two older older two ones were behind the top one… so the scooter has been resting in that shed since 1976… 38 years! Rod is now approaching the Department of Transport to see if he can get the original number plate; UG 322.photo RodsF1 And I know it’s superficial, but I think my favourite part of the whole scoot is the original “Aussie Rules” Shell decals on the inside of the inside of the leggies…  a real period piece!

Rod on ModCNew owner Rod is no newbie when it come to Lambrettas either… He’s sent me this fantastic pic of himself astride his first Lambretta, a C Model, in about 1960 when he was 17, which he later upgraded to a D Model, pictured below. Just shows, once you’ve got the  Lambretta bug, you’ve pretty much got it for life. I can’t wait to see pics of Rod riding his restored F in the Aussie sunshine. Keep us posted mate!ModelD

The last pic, and probably my favourite, is Rod 53 years after the shot on his “C”, obviously enjoying his new purchase…RodF-53 Years Later

F is for FORKS…

A couple of eagle-eyed readers have pointed out that the forks don’t look correct for the model F, as you can see in the pic below, they are ‘swept back’ rather than the more standard Lambretta style forks, as seen on the D, and evolved on later models. It’s being looked into! UPDATE: The forks problem has been resolved, but it warrants a post of it’s own (stay tuned). We’ll leave it at this for the moment: A) Rods Lammie is DEFINITELY an F, and B) I’ve learned something new!LambrettaModellF

 

 

60 years old gets the red carpet treatment…

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Funky LD

Trawling the web for Lambretta images, I came across this freshly restored, and pimped up LD in Indonesia. Sitting rotting in a shipyard, it was rescued and given the full treatment by XXX, including the unique colour scheme, which it wears well. Very funky!Lambretta_012 Lambretta_008 Lambretta_005 Lambretta_009 3 Lambretta_006 Lambretta_010

I even like the red carpet… although whatever material it’s made of – in the UK it would just soak up rain, maybe you can get away with it in Indonesia!Lambretta_020 LD2

Found on the Vietnamese Xe Va Phong Cách blog, which Google tells me translates to “The Car and Style” although it originally comes from the Indonesian automotive blog dapurpacu.com. From what I can make out the work was done by these guys in Jakarta: Alamat Bengkel Primo 116 Werx 

If you’re reading this in the mystic orient, and you’re english is better than my (or google’s) Indonesian and/or Vientnamese, and I’ve made any glaring errors, please put me right 🙂

I’ve just noticed this is my 444th post which is simultaneously pleasing and, for some reason, a bit spooky… If you’re new to the blog you’ve got 443 other posts to check out, please do!

 

Ancillotti Brothers TV225 conserved restoration

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Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.20.43This is my third post about the work of The Rimini Lambretta Centre. I make no apologies for this, they produce first class work, and they are the acknowledged experts in the fine art of the “conserved restoration”. Coupled with there usually being an interesting story behind the work, and some great images, it’s a no brainer. So, on with the post, and what we have here is another fantastic job, on a small, but important piece of Lambretta history.
Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.22.20Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.23.04The owner, Marcello Taglialegne, picked up this machine, in a really sorry state, at a parts fair. Some nifty homework confirmed the sellers’ story that it was an Ancillotti original, and, although the bodywork was in a bad way, with a massive crack at the rear section of the frame, and the engine was missing, it was decide that this scooter MUST be saved! A ton of work was done. This included sourcing a NOS 200cc engine as originally used by the Ancillotti brothers, and a hand-made inlet manifold to house the unfeasibly large Dell’Orto that sticks out the side of this scoot like Satchmo’s horn. The other thing that draws your eye straight away on this unique Lambretta is the front mudguard, which looks like it’s on backwards! A point of ‘heated debate’ in the RLC workshop, it was the way Ancillotti originally did it, so it was going on like that. I kind of like it, and have certainly never seen anything like it before.Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.24.49But my favourite part of this scoot is the seat. What a seat. Original to the scooter, and recovered, it sets the whole scoot of beautifully. The first time I ever heard the word Ancillotti was in relation to scooter seats (back in the day, it was that or a “Snetterton”) and this is the daddy of all Ancillotti racing seats. I want one like that!Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.22.48Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 10.26.47

For the full story of all the painstaking, period correct work that was carried out, and it’s quite a saga, but a good read; see the RLC website. There’s lots more pics of this fascinating scooter on there too.

Greek style TV

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GreekTVAnother fine restoration from the esteemed Rimini Lambretta Centre, this time of a highly desirable Series 3 TV175. Despite being such a desirable scooter, this machine had received less than perfect care over it’s lifetime (it could have made certain Vietnamese bikes look ‘reasonable’ was the way they put it at the RLC), until it’s current owner, Nikos, from Patros, in Greece… decided it needed some TLC from the RLC. (That’s rather good, that Dean… you should use that). Anyway, they did their usual first class job, and you can see the results below. For the full story, and all the ‘before’ pics… head over to the Rimini Lambretta site, here.
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SX 150 ‘Orange 67’ Conserved Restoration

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Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.27.37What do you do with an SX150 in original paint in a very rare factory colour? (Orange 67). It’s easy if you’ve just bought it off the Rimini Lambretta centre, a complete “Conserved Restoration”. Keep as much of the original paint (and scooter) as possible, and restore to as original with NOS (New Old Stock) parts where needed. The scooter is 100% standard (– you couldn’t use a term as ugly as “bog standard” with a machine as beautiful as this) right down to the last grease nipple. And all the better for it. Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.27.06 Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.27.23 Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.27.50 Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.28.01

More pics, and the full story on the RiminI Lambretta site, here.

And doesn’t the Italian scenery look nearly as good as the scoot?

Original Innocenti Twin SX200 prototype being restored by the RLC

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Innocenti Twin 7Twin cylinder Lambretta’s are something most Lambrettisti have at least heard of, if not seen in the flesh. The most well known being the 250cc Targa Twin engines. What some people maybe don’t realise is this engine is based on a Innocenti original… and prototype twin cylindered SX200’s were developed and built in Milan.

Innocenti Twin 4Two of these ultra rare beasts are owned by Lambretta maestro Vittorio Tessera, (head of Casa Lambretta, author of many Lambretta books), one of which is on display in his Lambretta Museum. The other? It had the engine removed years ago, and hasn’t run since it left Innocenti. But all that is going to change.

Innocenti Twin 3Impressed with the painstaking “conserved restoration” The Rimini Lambretta Centre carried out on the original 1960 Roma Olympics Series 2, (see my previous post about these beauties), Sig. Tessera commisioned  Dean and the team at the RLC to do a similar job on the twin. As pretty much a “one off” – it differs significantly in configuration from it’s contemporaneous partner – it presents an immense challenge; but one that the RLC are more than a match for. This is one to watch. I can’t wait to see, and hear, this historic machine running.

BIG thanks to Dean from the RLC, for helping me put this post together, and proofing my ramblings.

Find out more on the Rimini Lambretta Site.

Ex RAC Series 1 Lambretta & Sidecar Combo for Sale

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$_12 $_12-2 $_12-1These don’t come up very often… in fact, I’ve never seen one for sale before. I’ve seen pics of the RAC Lambretta’s of course, but here’s your chance to own one. It’s been completely restored, by no-one less than the famous Rimini Lambretta Centre, who have  done their usual fantastic restoration job, and, to give it a bit more oomph, stuck a  Innocenti TV225 engine under the panels. You also get the original 150 engine as part of  the deal. The full spec is available on the eBay listing, here, but this is a real head turner, as well as being eminently practical scooter if you want to lug more than a tent and a sleeping bag with you to the next scooter rally, without going to the extremes of a full caravan conversion.

Below are a couple of pics I found on the Red Devil motors blog, which also notes the eBay listing… The RAC obviously used a Lambretta combination outfit for a while, as the images show a couple of LD’s, and a Series 2.

lambretta rac combo lambretta combo bonhamsThe eBay link again: Here.