And a lady on a bike.
I’m delighted to announce the formation of a new national Lambretta Club… you’ve guessed it, in South Africa. Check out their Facebook page here, I’m sure they’s be chuffed with any likes and shares they get. I’ve already featured one of their outings on the blog, here. If you’re interested in joining, or just want to find out more, leave them a message on the page, or email Andy. Nice badge.
https://www.facebook.com/LambrettaClubSouthAfrica
I’ve updated the Links page, that make 35 Countries with Lambretta Clubs. Wow. If I’ve missed any, please let me know!
I’d never heard of Nelson Mandela, until I heard this song (video below). I don’t think most of my peer group had either. At the time words like ‘terrorist’ were being used about him, although initially he was a follower of the non-violent school of protest, he became a the militant. But who wouldn’t be, against a regime as oppressive as that of the South African one. Anyway, because of Jerry Dammers, and the Special AKA, I read deeper than the stories in the Daily Express, and found another side to the story. On a side note, whenever I walked past South Africa House, in Trafalgar Square, back in the day… (as I did last night too), I was never asked by the demonstrators to sign their petition… I assume because of my close cropped hair, Flight jacket, and polished cherry red DMs. But stop and sign I always did, despite their prejudices.
Anyway. Enough of that. This is about Mr Mandela… and how he helped transform South Africa from a racist, aparteid regime into a rainbow nation. Without the “bloodbath” that was not only predicted, but seemed to be a forgone conclusion. Are things perfect in South Africa? Probably not. But they are certainly better that what the majority of the world thought was going to happen. How much of this was down to Jerry Dammers and the Specials? I suspect more that we think. After this song everybody knew the name Nelson Mandela in the UK, and the UK played a huge role in leading world opinion. The song went on to be known and sung around the world. Can ‘pop music’ change the world? Not very often. But sometimes, sometimes it can. RIP Mr Mandela, thank you Mr Dammers.
If you’ve just found the Lambrettista blog, this is a far from typical post. Normal service will be resumed ASAP
Fancy a look round the Lambretta Museum, in Weston-Super-Mare, but can’t be arsed to get out of your Iconic Designs Lambretta chair? Well, now, due to the miracle of Google Maps you can… by simply clicking here. And if that’s whetted your appetite, you could go and have a butchers in real life. It’s open 11am – 3pm Tuenday to Saturday, No entry fee required, but donations accepted. Back in March it was announced that the museum was going to shut at the end of 2013… and everything be sold off… but I haven’t heard anything since. But if I was you, and you fancy seeing it complete… I’d get down to Somerset sharpish.
Brooklynbretta used to be the place to take your vintage scoot for repairs in NYC. Sadly, it’s gone now, closing it’s doors in 2009. But what remains is pretty cool; this fun vid of a scooter chase through the streets of NYC. The resolutions not great, but the content is.
Via Renton66
This is a must have for the modern Lambrettista equipping the world coolest office… or home. I’ve seen something similar based upon *cough “another scooter” …but it didn’t have half the cachet of these iconic pieces.
Although you might want to simply display these chairs as a piece of art, you’ll be glad to know they do work as fully functioning chairs.
Each chair is hand built and can be fully customised to your requirements… the model from an LI Series 1 to a GP/DL… the colour, either traditional Lambretta colours or custom colours, and the chrome badges… even the colour of the leather and how it’s stitched. You can even add your own company branding.
They are the brainchild of Jim Piester, founder of Johannesburg (South Africa) based Iconic Design. Jim, who is behind the whole idea, is a Lambretta rider himself (his is the candy orange GP you can glimpse behind the chair, or better in this post), and has been since the age of 16. His background in manufacturing engineering, including a 9 year stint at Rolls Royce and Bentley, have paid off in his attention to detail in the finishing of the final chair.
Jim has other products already in the pipeline, including a Lambretta inspired sofa, armchair and bar stools. There is also a Series One version, including a working headlight… how cool is THAT?
The pricing seems remarkably reasonable too…
£951 +postage for a GP chair (DL/GP or electronic)
£1,035 + postage for a Series Two chair (Li or TV)
£1,100 + postage for a Series One with working headlight (Li or TV)
£1,079 + postage for a Series Three chair (SX, Special and TV)
Compare what you’d pay for the V*spa version… (Google it, I’m not linking to it) and you’ll see how favourably these compare pricewise. Designwise, there’s NO comparison.
Update: Here’s a rather lovely GP200 Electronic version Jim’s currently working on…
For further details check out the Iconic Design website here.
There’s a lot to like in this ad… not least the Lammies! The advertiser, AXA, has paid attention to get some of the little details right (or rather their ad agency has). The lead actor even looks like he’s properly into the whole mod thing, even if he’s a little young to be “an original”. I wasn’t going to post this, as I thought everybody would have already seen this… but then I though, “well, only in the UK”, as the blog has more or less a global reach (more than 100 countries last time I checked).
My pal Andy in SA sent me these pics of a good turn out of Lammies at the Classic Motorcycle Club of Jo’Burg’s annual Scooter Day. Looks like a good turn out, some nice scoots, enjoying the spring sunshine (lucky buggers) and I’m loving the Lambretta Club of South Africa embroidered patches… 
I discovered this fantastic interview with Lambretta legends the Lambretta legends the Acillotti brothers… How they got started in scootering, Vespa’s verus Lambretta’s and their rivalry with Gori. Illustrated with a great looking racing scoot, it’s an interesting read, even when translated by Google from the original Italian.
Read it here on The Racing Lambrettas Site
UPDATE: Paolo Catani, the gent behind the Racing Lambretta site, has pointed me in the direction of an english version of the original interview, here. It certainly reads much better than the Google translation.
My favourite quote, (one that Google didn’t quite do justice); “It’s not true that it was Lambretta v. Vespa : that’s a false myth. It was always Lambretta against Lambretta because to race against a Vespa would have been a one-sided challenge” Quite.
I’ve got a new Twitter handle (why handle? Is it only used on Twitter and CB radio? How weird!) It’s @MrLambrettista and, if you do the Twitter thing I’d love you to follow me their. This is going to be 100% (well maybe 95%) scooter and scooter lifestyle related. Once I’ve got a bit of critical mass, I’ll start deleting the scootering links from my other twitter account (@crocodilejock) and just use that for my art, graphic design, typography, brand and marketing related posts (my day job). If that sort of stuff interests you, I’d love to keep you as followers here. Sorry if this all seems a little convoluted, but it will all start getting confusing if I leave it much longer. It also makes sense to link up the blog, the Facebook page and the twitter account under one ‘brand’.
So the long and short of it is, I’d love you to follow me on @MrLambrettista and a big thank you to the 68 people that have followed me already!
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