Tag Archives: Amphibious

Lambretta del Mare!

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Photo by Antonello Anappo, Arvaliastoria.it

As Monty Python used to say, “Now for something completely different!” – The Lambretta del Mare – or “Lambretta of the Sea” . Now I’ve featured various “amphibious” Lammies before (here and here) but never a fully fledged Lambretta powered boat before!

The Lambretta del Mare was a pleasure boat built by SARA of Rome. It was shown at the 1950 Milano Fiera trade show in the Montecatini Pavilion. The pleasure boat was powered by a LC 125 Lambretta engine.

Described as ‘elegant and easy to drive’ and ‘the most comfortable and most modern motorboat’ ‘The Lambretta del Mare allows navigation even with very rough sea. The great maneuverability, the shape and lightness of the hull give it remarkable stability and safety qualities. I used an innovative “Peralum” aluminum body produced by Montecatini making it extremely resistant to corrosion.

Those of you with better Italian than I can probably discover more from the brochure featured above… but it starts off saying something like… “Today, for the first time in the world, we are presenting a nautical vehicle; the “Lambretta del Mare” which allows a large number of the public to achieve an aspiration considered unattainable so far due to the high purchase price and the difficulty of transport and shelter” So – I’m assuming it was quite affordable – easy to transport – and to store – as it goes on to say the boat would fit in a standard size garage.

I wonder if this actually made it into manufacturing? And if so, how many of these actually made… which begs the question… do any still exist? It would be the ultimate addition to any Lambretta collection!

Thanks again to regular Lambrettista contributor Darrin Slack for finding and sharing these images!

I have a credit for the top photo… if I have to credit anybody else, please let me know.

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Government unveils plans for extra Channel crossings in event of No Deal Brexit

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We try and stay away from politics here at the Lambrettista blog. But this is something that affects all Lambrettisti! Rumours have reached Lambrettista Towers that after seeing some archive footage of a Lambretta Amphi-Scooter on this very blog (see original post here), HM Government are buying up vintage Lambrettas at a premium, and converting them to amphibious capabilities.

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Jacob Rees-Mogg testing a modified Lambretta scooter

Although not the obvious choice as a sea-going vessel, a converted Lambretta is seen as being more than capable of the short Dover to Calais route, and is being touted as “Just the sort of forward-facing, out-of-the-box innovative thinking this country needs”.  A breakaway faction of the government is said to be carrying out experiments in converting Triumph Tigress scooters, claiming the British build scooters are better suited to the task than any ‘Italian Rubbish’. Rumours that the mastermind behind this project is the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris “failing” Graying have yet to be substantiated.

Capacity

Although the storage capacity of these machines is somewhat limited, it’s thought that with enough converted Lambrettas, the UK can avoid shortages of Camembert, Brie, and several other European kinds of cheese. With the addition of front and rear racks, baguettes and croissants can also be accommodated.