Brettas, Badges and Blog…

20130417_161444Lambrettista is back after a short break (at the seaside with the family in sunny Broadstairs, Kent… highly recommended!) Now I’m back, I’m kicking off with a blog recommendation… check out the “You Don’t Need Speed” blog here… Scooters, music, style and more from Lambretta riding Pete, based in The Steel CIty… Sheffield. As well as putting together a very enjoyable blog, Pete can sort you out with enamel badges for you club or event… and has a nice stock of Punk, Ska and Mod button badges in stock here too. As well as the more commonly seen Trojan ones, I love the ones from the more esoteric ska record labels… Bigshot, Doctor Bird and Treasure Isle… bang on. Aces badge 3

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Laurent Callot Photographies, part deux

I’ve posted this chaps work before, but that was way back, and he is clearly a gentleman of great taste! Here’s some more shots I’ve found on his Facebook page.

Laurent Callot Photographies 485889_453194054693748_1587683262_n 547798_454767857869701_669365149_n 556753_454767321203088_20508215_n 562400_454767981203022_1732940817_n 581176_454771527869334_1631416685_n 599677_454768057869681_113119063_n 600973_454766911203129_1671419200_nMore Laurent Callot 598653_454771647869322_452110872_n 599197_454771861202634_1535381924_n

The story of the splat

Gp-splat

There are many stories about the history of the Lambretta that have gained almost folklore status. One of my favourites is the story of the “splat”, or ink blot that appeared as a graphic on early GP’s.

You probably know it, but if you don’t, read on. And if you DO, read on anyway to make sure I’ve got it right.  As the nineteen-sixties drew to a close Signor Innocenti commissioned the famous design house Bertone to remodel the Lambretta range. The result of this collaboration is still one of the most recognisable Lambretta scooters, the GP (known as the DL in most markets outside the UK).  As well as s sleeker, slimmer, sportier body design, Bertone wanted a departure from the ‘old fashioned’ look of chrome plated badges and trim, presenting a more forwarding looking vision with a single colour of paint and matt black trim. This was a step too far for Innocenti, who insisted on some of his chrome back. In typical latin style a furious row erupted, which ended with Bertone throwing down his pen, leaving a splash of ink across his renderings. To commemorate the argument, Innocenti insisted that a legshield sticker was made in the shape of a stylised ink splat. On later models, and all UK imports,  this was replaced with a sticker of a checkered flag. Well, that’s the version I heard, anyway!

Schmidt-dl