Wrap it in a sigh… soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie…
If anyone can, this chap can. Not just the Candy Man, the Cotton Candy Man. That’s Candy Floss, this side of the pond of course. And, despite the fact he works out of a Lambro, I haven’t seen a more sinister looking bloke since Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King’s “It”. I reckon he murdered the bloke who’s clothes they are… they don’t certainly don’t fit him. And hanging around outside a school, by the look of it… Definitely dodgy. As it say’s on the Lambro “Here he comes…”
These occasionally come up on eBay, I think a (limited) batch were made to promote the launch of the Lambretta LN (I’ve decided it’s about time to drop the term “new” Lambretta) back in 2011. They sit about 33cm, or 13″ high. There’s one currently sitting on eBay for a shade over £50, with 3 days to go… make a nice Christmas pressie for somebody. Maybe your favourite Lambretta blogger 🙂
CORRECTION: A couple of readers have been in touch to let me know these were made for display in Lambretta Clothing stores, rather than the launch of the LN.
Not necessarily in that order. Nice photo set of Karen Gillan, the Scottish actress who played the Doctors glamorous and feisty assistant Amy Pond in the cult sci-fi series. Discovered on this Czech site, I’m unable to credit the photographer**If it’s you, get in touch and I’ll give you full credits etc. and link to your site. And sorry for posting without your prior permission, I tried to track you down, honest. Nice shots.
The back-end is definitely, definitely Lambretta, or Lambretta under license… (such as NSU) An LC, or an LD, it’s hard to tell. But definitely, definitely Lambretta. But the front end is definitely, definitely NOT. Various suggestions have been made on Facebook, such a a Peugeot or maybe a FEBO from Spain. So what’s doing on? Is it the scooter version of a “Cut-and-shut”, some weird hybrid mutant? or was this a production machine? Can anyone shed any light?
From another look at the pic, I don’t think this is an original vintage shot, rather a modern shot made to look old.
After yesterdays contreversial post, which is splitting the scootering, blog reading nation even as I type (The internet is in meltdown, literally nine people have voted). I thought I’d post something nice, safe, and uncontroversial. So, Hot on the heels of this German NSU video… here’s a nice American chap, who owns and rides a Lambretta. A German one.
This is a first. I generally don’t post pictures of Vespas. I’ve got nothing against them, other than a general low-level bitterness that out of the two GREAT Italian scooter marques, Piaggio’s Vespa survived and the clearly superior Lambretta didn’t. And I’m not a “scootist”. Some of my best friends ride Vespas. In fact, Vespas are (probably) my second favourite scooter marque. But they are all over the web, and there’s some great sites covering both (try Scooternova) or that cater to the poor deluded souls who actually prefer Italy’s second best scooter (my personal favourite, being this one; Vespamore). And, much as I may have huge gaps in my Lambretta knowledge (I literally learn something new nearly every day), I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to the Vespa. I’ve never owned one*, and I’ve never even ridden one. So I can’t really write abut them.
Anyway, this long, unfocused and rambling diatribe is needs to get back on track. Here we go. I generally don’t post pictures of Vespas. But occasionally, I come across a picture so good it’s hard to resist the urge to post it. Above is one such shot.
So… here’s the deal. Should I post the occasional pics of a Vespa, or are they truly off limits on a Lambretta site. This is your chance to vote, below.
*I nearly bought a GS160 before I saw my current Lambretta – this would have been a very different blog!
I don’t know what to make of this video. Partly because it’s in German. And I don’t speak German. But, it’s quite basic German, (even I could understand the basic story) which initially had me thinking it’s a language learning film.
Anyway, there’s some nice period footage featuring a NSU Lambretta Prima (their licensed version of the LD), a road trip from Germany through the Dolomites, ending in Venice. So that’s good enough for me. About 21 minutes in there’s a ‘technical section’ with nice cutaways of how the engine works (I for one didn’t know German cranks were ‘bear powered’!). At 23 minutes there’s a folky type Lambretta song in German, which is nice. Then the video shows the various attractive shades of beige and brown you could order your Prima in.
At 24 minutes were out of Lambretta territory, and into the rest of the NSU range; which runs so smoothly Hans can ride without Hands. This continues to about 26 minutes, when, weirdly, the video starts to repeat the first part, with half the screen covered in a red gel. I’m not sure if this is the original footage, that has been cleverly restored to full colour, or there’s another reason I can’t think of, but I’d skip that bit :).
Really, there’s not much more to it than that. But if that’s what your into, mail the Cong Chua (who shot it) for the full (40 minute!!) video… scooterkickstart@gmail.com
On a side note, as I’m sure you all know, the correct way to start a Lammie, from cold, is choke open, and kick… no need to twist the throttle!
What 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.
lambrettista.net 