Cool electric concept from ’68

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It seems that electric vehicles are finally becoming a reality… with even companies like BMW getting in on the act. There is, of course the eBretta (1st tenuous Lambretta link), the electric reincarnation of the Lambretta, being developed in Vietnam.tumblr_myglnt81RB1r8dlh9o1_1280

But this is not a new thing… Back in 1968 the US car firm, AMC, now long defunct produced this concept. With a top speed of 50mph, and a claimed range of 150 miles (remember, this was the 60’s) this looking like a viable city commuter vehicle. Perhaps if petrol (or gas, as our American cousin’s insist on calling it) had got more expensive stateside, and they’d managed to make the Nickel Cadmium and Lithium Nickel Fluoride batteries more affordable, we might have seen these go into production.amcelc02I love the whole retro futuristic vibe of these, and design wise, they remind me of the Bond Bug, with a bit of Bertone thrown in (2nd tenuous Lambretta link). They were actually designed by Dick Teague, who’s finest moment, in my book was the ‘hot wheels’ looking AMX-GT. How this never made it into full production is a mystery to me. I’d always assumed it had… maybe it’s the Hot Wheels effect made me think that!

800px-1968_AMC_AMX-GT_ShowCar_Type2QCars that did make it into production are the Pacer, you know the one with the huge, bulbous rear window… and a superfunky “compact” called the Gremlin, both clearly sharing some AMX-GT DNA.amc-gremlin-01

And, although as well as being a stunning piece of design, the Gremlin was purportedly a good, reliable, and inexpensive motor… but I can’t help thinking the marketing department could have come up with a name that didn’t suggest that it was full of faults. Anyway, it’s a shame the AMC brand, which seemed so innovative and forward looking didn’t achieve more sustained commercial success… but it was fighting a losing battle against the US “Big 3” of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, as well as European and Japanese imports.

Find out more about AMC on the excellent and entertaining Musclehead blog, here.

This is one of my irregular “not a Lambretta” posts… normal service will be resumed soon 🙂

Don’t be shy…

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tumblr_my5uto2LHD1s6gv03o1_500You’re riding a GT! One of the finest machines to roll out of Mr Innocenti’s factory! I know it’s a bit lazy, just posting pics, but when they’re as good as this, it’s hard to resist. Via the fictions Tumblr blog.

Dudes on D’s

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4b4c420d48283a75ae782312692d0626Oh, they had style back in the day. The men wore suits, and the ladies rode side saddle. Or looking backwards! When it was on the stand, anyway… those were the days.

Ridden, not hidden.

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Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.26.23I love these shots. Nicky Bubbles, a name well known to London Scoote scene, and one of the key movers and shakers in the Bar Italia Scooter club (Facebook page here), was kind enough to let me share these great shots of a brace of Lambrettas… Nicky and a loose collective of like minded individuals who ride together under the moniker of “The Blackheath Panthers”, not so much a scooter club, more a bunch of mates. The only problem I had with the shots was choosing which pics to post – as there were so many good ones. Great looking scooters, with a great patina about them… these machines obviously get out and about, “ridden not hidden” as the title says…and that’s exactly as it should be in my book. Thanks for letting me share these Nicky, appreciate it!Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.18.05 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.21.57 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.18.32 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.23.05 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.18.53 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.19.48At Leadenhall Market, The City of London.

Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.15.28You’d be hard pressed to date this pick… it could have been shot anytime from the 70’s onwards… It’s December 2013!

Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.13.45 Screen Shot 2014-01-02 at 16.13.15And to conclude, a couple of pics from a solo ride around Greenwich… Docklands and Canary Wharf making a great backdrop!

Lambretta SX200 / 200 DL Electronic Video

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The perfect way to kick off the New Year, A nice video by Nuvolari Legend… Ok, it’s in Italian, but I always find Italian is one of those languages you can get the ‘jist’ of just by listening… and the visuals make up for it. I do wish they’s shot it in landscape though!

Lambrettista… Review of the year

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I hope this is not too self indulgent, but this has been a big year for the Lambrettista blog.

Back in April, the old Posterous blog came to an end… when the Posterous blogging platform did. I looked around for a replacement platform, and WordPress seemed to be a no brainer. After a slowish start, (31 views and 22 visitors in April) the next month the viewing figures shot up to 2,664 views and 956 visitors… a definite improvement! Things have gone from strength tho strength since… Screen Shot 2013-12-31 at 04.41.20

Secondly… Reach… You might be interested in where the Lambrettista blog is read… Which is pretty much everywhere. The map below shows the reach of my blog. And, no I’m not blowing my own trumpet (well, a bit) but I’m blown away at the number of countries where people read my blog. I’ve still got to crack Mongolia, most of the continent of Africa, and a couple of countries in South America (come on Paraguay, you’re letting the side down!), but other than that the reach is pretty global. I hit the 100 countries mark a while back and am way more than that now. Wow. It’s probably more about the popularity of the World’s Finest Motor Scooter than any great blogging skill on my part, but it’s nice nonetheless.

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2014 was also the year I decided to make a Lambrettista.net Facebook page and Twitter account (@MrLambrettista) to support the blog. I set these up in November, and the Facebook page has already had 750+ ‘Likes’ and the Twitter account 250+ followers. If you haven’t checked them out, there’s more, different content on both, and I’d love to have you part of them.

And now a few favourite posts…

Favourite Lammie

My favourite Lambrettas of the year… It’s truly impossible to pick. So here’s Four of that have stuck in my mind… Firstly, Chrsitian Gentilini’s stunning SX150 S-Type Screen shot 2013-07-06 at 07.35.58

Blue Ashtray; a clean mean GP from NYCBlue Ashtray Lambretta GPThis beautiful conserved resto by the Rimini Lambretta Centre… a lovely original orange SX150 Screen Shot 2013-12-09 at 15.28.01

And to show it’s not all about perfection, I loved this rat look Series 1 that was up on eBay$T2eC16R,!w0E9szNYhFVBRzF4rgFfQ~~60_12

2013 was also a big year for new Lambretta based innovations… two scoots stand out – and while they can’t be called Lambrettas for legal reasons, they are fine machines based on the the classic lines of our favourite scooter. Firstly the Scomadi – a modern auto clad in Lambretta style bodywork,turismo-leggera-300

and then the MkII Ebretta – the most stylish electric scooter you’re ever likely to see.Ebretta

Lambretta Club of the Year

Despite the excellent work of my own Lambretta Club, (The LCGB) I’ve got to award this one to the new kid on the block, The youngest national Lambretta Club in the World… the Lambretta Club of South Africa.

Lambretta Club South Africa

Favourite Photograph

There’s been more than a few great images… here are just three of my favourites. Feel free to explore the archives to discover more for yourself!Lambretta easy rider
Girl on a scooter 1965the scooterist (104)

Oddball Scooter of the Year

This category is for any scooter that I’ve written about. Despite a strong contender in the Malaguti Saigon, and a late showing for the WFM Osa, there was only going to be one winner this year… The Tula based Scooter Caravan! 4b98f96dbc8bca7b64209244945b68d1

Lambretta Product of the Year

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Not a Scootering product at all… or a pair of sock bearing the Lambretta logo, but this fine  piece of furniture from Iconic Designs.

 Looking forward to 2014

2014 Is looking good for shipping on both the Scomadi and the Ebretta II,  and perhaps for a fresh push on the Alessandro Tatarini designed Lambretta LN‘s …as legal battles seem to coming to some conclusion on the Lambretta brand. Or maybe not.

If you’re fairly new to the blog, you obviously like your Lammies, and I’d like to think theres a fair bit that will interest you in the archive… keep hitting the “Older posts” button at the bottom of the page to see a whole load more Lambretta-ey goodness! Oh, and please check out the Events Page (under the links menu) for a calendar of scootery things to do, all over the world, in the coming year.

Finally, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Thank you, Gracias, Merci, Danke, 谢谢, ขอขอบคุณคุณ, dank u (love the Dutch), Tack, Dankon. I appreciate your support. And keep reading, sharing, liking, following and commenting, it really makes my day when you do. And stay tuned… there’s plenty more to come in 2014.

Happy New Year, when it comes. Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy. Safe and Prosperous One. Big Love… Jock.

Sporting OSA – The Polish Wasp!

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The OSA was a Polish scooter (or Skuter in the native Polish – who knew!) manufactured by WFM (Warsaw Motorcycle Factory), between 1959 and 1965. Taking a cue from Piaggio, Osa is the Polish word for Wasp (as Vespa is in Italian of course). It was a well engineered machine, and performed well in sporting events, particularly off road rallies such as the famous Scottish 6 Day Trial (Top pic). UPDATE & CORRECTION: Reader Redstar-TV points out the top pic is NOT of the Scottish 6 Day Trial, but the International 6 Day Trial in Bad Ausee in the Austrian Alps. Thanks mate; I make more than a few mistakes and am always grateful for my readers putting me right. I also don’t always click the “allow comments box” which is off by default… so if you can’t see a way of commenting get in touch through the Contact page. Anyway Redstar-TV’s excellent Tumblr blog Scooter-Pooper is well worth checking out for some great Lambretta (and other scooter images).

There is a good following behind the Osiara are indeed the Polish version of Lambrettista, and there is a great club dedicated to the preservation of these machines, you can even get a Osa 2014 Calendar if it is your wont!

The line-up below show a fine range of Osa Skuters at one of their events.

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Merry Christmas Everybody!

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Lambrettista-XmasCard
So, this may be my last chance to post before Christmas. Have a great time everybody, and if I may take a moment to say a big thank you, via the blog to everybody that has helped me through the year.

So whether you have helped me change my chain, guide and clutch (BIG thank you Mr Jordan), or helped me out on a blog post (Mr Orton at the Rimini Lambretta Centre gets a shout out on this one), or you have commented, shared, tweeted, favourited or simply just read a post on the blog – thank you. I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Big Love.

Jock

Lambretta Carb removal, cleaning & rebuild videos

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It may not be as newsworthy as an Electric Lambretta, or as entertaining as some of Woodsy’s videos… sometimes the boring mechanical stuff needs doing. These nicely put together videos shows you all the steps in getting your carburettor off your scoot, stripped, cleansed and reassembled. You could use Sticky’s manual, and I’d recommend having it on hand while your doing it, but if you are new to the job, watching a couple of 8 minute videos could be real lifesavers.

Although aimed at Series 3 owners, the basics are the same for all Lambretta models, (certainly from the Series 1’s onwards) so even if you have an older scoot, they are worth a watch.

The videos have been put together by Jeff Allen who mainly does “how-too’s on how to do shit” and does it very well… nicely shot and easy to follow.

UPDATE: Regualr reader Corey makes some good points in the comments, check ’em out by clicking the little speech bubble.

Ebretta Mk2

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EbrettaI first wrote about the Ebretta back in May 2012… a classic Lambretta with an electric power train. Well, now Siagon Scooter Centre, the guys behind the Ebretta and the Vespa Styled version the Vtronic have released  a Mk2 version. On the surface, not a lot has changed, and that’s a good thing. It still looks like a classic lammy. But under the skin, there are numerous improvements. The battery system now includes an integrated PMC, and the cells are smaller and more powerful. There’s a new SevCon digital display unit, and a DC converter so that standard lighting can be used… although LED lighting comes as part of the package.

It’s nice to see a project as visionary as this is still being pursued and developed. And that a company realises there is a market for classic scooter looks with state of the art internals. Of course, if an electric scoot doesn’t float your boat, you could have a look at the Scomadi.

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As before, for more information, contact the Siagon Scooter Centre.