Category Archives: Serveta

Call the Cops!

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Regular contributor Darrin Slack sent me these great pictures of some Spanish Police Lambrettas… Look carefully at the first couple of pics, and you’ll spot some modifications to the standard Eibar models… firstly the additional (flashing?) light mounted on the headlight. The second, and more structural change is adding a siren, (clearly visible on the picture below) with a grill built into the side-panel to accommodate it. I’d imagine there was a fair few of these made… I wonder if any have survived intact? I’d love to see one!

The final picture is later, and features the Scooterlinea (or Slimstyle) Series 3 Serveta. They don’t appear to have front dampers, or disc brakes, and the front one seems to have a “Special” badge, rather than a “Jet” one. The obvious addition is that large flyscreen, this tiime with a (presumably) blue light built in.

If you have any further info about these Spanish Police Specials, I’d love to know!

Also, if they’re your images, I’d love to credit you properly, and give you a proper link. Of course, if you’d rather I took them down, I will.
I know that Serveta exported scooters to the US, and were used by the NYPD… but that’s another post for another day

Lambretta Locomociones

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Pictures from the Spanish Lambretta Factory in Eibar

A couple of posts back, I wrote about the Lambretta Amiga – the last throw of the dice for the Serveta factory in the Spanish Basque country (here). I gave a short potted history of the Spanish Lambrettas – Reader Darrin Slack got in touch, and shared some fantastic images he had of the Eibar factory (I said he had shared a bunch of great content with me, didn’t I – stay tuned – there’s more to come).The pictures below are of the purpose-built factory that started building scooters in 1954 – just two years after a group of Basque businessmen obtained a licence from Innocenti to build Lambrettas in Spain.

The Drawing office –
Tube bending machines – making the frames for the scooters
Sidepanels coming out of the hydraulic press – who knew that they were made in pairs?
Legshields being finished – note the distinctive turning front mudguard of the Winter Model in the foreground, and stacked up on the left hand side of the image.

The Basque factory was very successful – initially catering to the domestic Spanish market… as can be seen in the image below, they made at least 3 million machines…

Thanks again to Darrin for the fantastic images. If you’re interested in finding out more about Spanish Lambrettas – check out this site Serveta is Betta.

Uncle Joe’s Rumpshaker

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Every now and then, a Lambretta comes along and blows my socks off. This post is about one that has done just that. But first, some context. The ‘rusto-rat’ look has been around for a while, and spawned some great looking scooters. I wrote about it here – back in 2013 – so the look has been around for a while! I think the looks originates with the Hot Rod scene – where distressed and patina-ed bodywork is paired with handwritten signwriting – often coupled with a very powerful engine. The first Lambretta I recall having this look – a real gamechanger – was a Series 2 called Janie Jones, and features heavily that post.

So, this signwritten rusto-rat look has become a staple of the custom Lambretta scene now – and there are many very cool examples of it around. The signwriting lends itself to classic curves of the Lambretta – and the retro typography is and clearly handwritten and crafted style is just matches perfectly with the machine.

Styles changes, and every style evolves. That’s what keeps things fresh. I think the rusto-rat scene has reached it’s apex in this scooter. I love everything about it. The theme is original. The way the graphics and the type fit the panels is spot on – without looking too contrived. And everywhere you look there are little touches that just make you smile. And it all comes together beautifully.

The scooter – a Serveta – has had a complicated history, involving both Kris Green and Harry Barlow (of H-Bomb Scooters fame) in it’s creation – and is now owned by Darren Wood from Wigan. The signwriting and faux-patina work was all carried out by Phil at The Monster Forge – a visit to their facebook page reveals more more of Phil’s fantastic work – on scooters, trucks and more. If this style floats your boat – and it does mine – Phil is the master of it. There’s some fantastic Alice of Wonderland murals on some Series 2 side-panels if you scroll down a bit! I hope to feature a blog post on Monster Forge in the not too distant future – stay tuned for updates.

If you’ve got a custom Lambretta that you’d like featured on the blog, or if you run a business, and there’s something special you’ve worked on that you’d like featured, get in touch.

Starsky & Hutch NYPD Serveta

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I’ve had this pic knocking around in a folder for a while, shot during the filming of Starsky & Hutch – featuring a Serveta L150 Special in full NYPD livery. I’ve got another one of Huggy Bear fixing a Lambretta somewhere, just got to dig that out…

Lambretta Tours of Southern Spain

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eca2e8_437321c4c6534400902839a97924f190~mv2_d_2048_1536_s_2I’ve posted about a Lambretta holiday before, notably about the Loco Wheels guys who do guided Lambretta tours of Mallorca (check out their website here). But if the Spanish mainland is more your thing, how about Andalucia?

Lambrettours do unique guided scooter tours in southern Spain. The tours are tailored to offer scooter and bike enthusiasts day trips or accommodation package scootering holidays touring and visiting the famous whitewashed villages of this Malaga region.

You ride a vintage Lambretta (see below for the collection) – through stunning scenery and quiet country roads, for a safe and memorable adventure that you’ll never forget.

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Your guide will be Lambretta enthusiast Darren – who has owned, rebuilt and maintained various models over the last 3 decades. Darren moved to Spain early 2001 and has mapped the best routes of the region to show you what the area has to offer in terms of gastronomy, wine bodegas, historical towns and areas of outstanding beauty. What are you waiting for? 

For more information, including the various tours available, check out the Lambrettours website.

Going Postal…

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Spotted this first class scooter on eBay… A Spanish Post Office (Correos) Serveta, quite rare by all accounts. It’s quite a basic model, lacking the indicators of Serveta’s of similar vintage. If Postman Pedro is anything like the ones that drive our little red vans, they never used the indicators anyway. Anyway, it’s much cooler than the push bikes our lot get to ride. Most of these scoots were scrapped after they went out of service, hence the rarity value, and relatively high price for a ‘basic’ Serveta. It doesn’t need my stamp of approval, but I think it’s got an appeal all of it’s own.
Here it is on eBay

Spanish D – ‘Cruz Roja’ Special

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Trawling the interwebs, came across this dapper Spanish model D… one of the first model of Lambretta out of the Eibar factory. Looks rather good themed as a miltary medical scoot… everything looks as it should, too my amateur eye anyway, apart from those saddles – too new! After a few thousand kilometres of running in though, the seats should start to look as good as the rest of the scooter.

Loving the folding rear foot-pegs, the front leg shield extenders, and the colour matched tool-kit. It’s just those seats, man…

It’s on this Spanish Auction Site if you’re interested, priced at €5,900.

World’s largest Lambretta collection up for sale!

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20150506-2904-EditaWhen asked what the ideal number of Lambrettas to own is, the usual answer is ‘one more than I’ve got’. Spanish-based ex-pat Colin Bunn taken that concept and run with it.

Colin has amassed an absolutely incredible collection of Lambrettas (and associated marques), in what must surely be the world’s largest collection of Lambrettas (unless you know different). Now, due to some unfortunate circumstances, most of the collection will be up for sale…

Full story over on ScooterLab, here.

Pic by Sticky.

Y Viva Mallorca!

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Mallorca Lambretta Trips!

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Dani got in touch to let me know about his new venture. With his pal Thomas he has set up Loco Wheels –  a Lambretta tours business in sunny Mallorca.

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Dani & Thomas have been into Lambrettas since the 90’s and are now taking the big step of turning their passion into a business.
Currently, they have four classic Lambrettas they’ve loving restored, and a couple of brand new Scomadi 125’s.
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The idea is to take you on a guided tour of hidden Mallorca… going off the beaten track and “getting  lost” in the labyrinth of  Mallorcan back roads. You’ll  discover the secret places tourists never see, and only the locals know about. You stop whenever takes your fancy to enjoy the culture and scenery.

As well as knowing which ‘Lammies friendly’ roads (and tracks!) to ride they also know the best places to sample typical local dishes, so you get a real taste of Mallorca in more ways than one! Your day ends back at Loco Wheels HQ for a drink and a chat.

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If you like the idea of riding a Lambretta, on a beautiful Mediterranean island, in the sunshine, (let’s be honest, what’s not to like) check out their (very cool) Loco Wheels Website, or their Facebook page.

Spanish D

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SpanishD10.00.51Iain Hannay sent me some fantastic pics of a Model D, that he’s just got running…  built in the Eibar factory, in the Spanish Basque country.

SpanishD10.01.01SpanishD10.01.10SpanishD10.01.16SpanishD10.02.24SpanishD10.02.48Now, I see a fair few Spanish Series 2 Lambrettas these days (much more than I used to, for some reason), and Jet 200’s are getting recognised as very desirable scooters… but I haven’t seen many early open frame models. If any, truth be told.

Iain’s D has some nice period accessories, the legshield extenders, and the spare wheel carrier / rack… and I love that oxblood paint. A cracking little scooter, that looks great in the Spanish sunshine!

I’d love to see any other old Spanish Lambrettas… any Spanish LD’s or Series 1’s out there? And what differentiates them from their Italian cousins?