Love this period pic from the ’50s of people turning out to watch some kind of motorcycle, or possibly scooter race. I love the way all their bikes, and scooters are ‘parked!’
Thanks to Daz for sending me the pic
UPDATE: I’ve been informed, in the comments that this is a pic of the 1954 Moto Giro d’Italia – which certainly fits with the Lambretta models on display. If you’ve got any further info on any of my posts – I’ve missed something out, or got something wrong, let me know in the comments, and I’ll update it!
Following my post from the Spanish Lambretta / Serveta factory in Eibar, (here) I’ve been sent a ton of fantastic imagery from my online pal Darrin Slack – so much that they will be providing the majority of the posts for the forseeable future – my only issue is finding enough hours in the day to post them! Darrin is a self-admitted ‘bloody bloohound’ when it comes to anything Lambretta – and has scoured the internet to find these images – which kinda what I’ve been doing for to find content for this blog – but Darrin is far better at it than I am! So, all this stuff is out there on the internet already, but it’s nice for us Lambretta fans to have everything in one place eh? Hopefully this blog becomes a bit of a resource for anybody interested in Lambretta history.
Image Source: I will endeavour to post links to the sites where these images originally featured – and credit any original photographers etc. These images appear to originally come from the Fondazione ISEC Flickr account. The Fondazione ISEC was formed in 1973 for the purpose of collecting, conserving and enhancing sources of the history of the Italian Resistance movement and the labour movement. Over time, Fondazione ISEC has become a national reference point for whoever is interested in events concerning the political, economic and social history of contemporary Italy. They have appeared on various sites, and Pinterest accounts around the internet… hopefully posting them here is another way of preserving and publicising these great images. The Fondazione ISEC site is here: https://www.fondazioneisec.it/
Plenty more to come! These shots are just the first of many, not only of the Lambretta factory, but also Lambretta trade shows, and various rarely seen publicity shots, as well as images of various Lambretta prototypes etc. Stay tuned for more of this good stuff! Thanks again to Darrin for sourcing and supplying me the images.
I connected with the Michelangelo (now there’s an Italian name for you!), the owner of these two fantastic Model A’s on Reddit – where he posted the picture above. The model A – or Lambretta 125m as was the official designation – it only really became the ‘A’ when the model ‘B’ came along – is where the Lambretta story all began. Documented elsewhere on this site, and around the web, I won’t repeat that all here.
There were only about 9,000 model A’s made, so to have one is pretty special. To have two, is amazing. But to have one as special as Michelangelo’s second one, is very special indeed. No ‘ordinary’ A, this one (an Mk1) features some wonderful period features that elevate it from the standard model to ‘Sport’ or GT spec…
Like something out of a time capsule – some of the differences between a standard A are immediately obvious – such as the elegant long-distance fuel tank. Slightly trickier to spot is the rear suspension – a feature that was felt ‘unnecessary’ on the original model. But not only did this scooter have a rear spring, it appears to height adjustable.
Fitted with a pillion seat – and on this bike you’d need one, as it would be sure to attract admiring glances from pretty young signorinas that you’d want to give a lift to. The aluminum grab rail would give her something to hold on to!
The forks are also ‘specials’ and original to the machine – and give a glimpse of the elegant ‘design language’ of future Lambrettas models. Another contemporaneous modification – made when the scooter was new, or shortly after – is the hand gear change – remember, the A was the only Lambretta model to feature a foot change. So perhaps – who knows – this very scooter helped shape the future of all later Lambrettas?
Scooters like Michelangelo’s A Sport are the reason i do this blog – there is always something new to discover, and interesting people to meet. I love it when people are passionate and knowledgeable about their passion – so if you have pictures of your Lambretta – and it can be any model – and a story to tell about it – I’d love to hear it. You can get in touch here.
A big thank you to Michelangelo Merisi, aka @ilbreizh on Instagram (or Reddit) for sharing these pictures and an important bit of Lambretta history. Michelangelo is currently engaged in another fascinating restoration of another old Lambretta, that I hope to feature on the blog one day. Stay tuned!
If you like your pictures a little more move-y, here’s a couple of short movies. I think the scoot in the Casa Performance Race Livery looks fantastic. If any of the models on the stand is going to win over a few of the sceptics, it’s that ‘un.
Some pics of the New Lambretta Vendetta at EICMA (the annual trade show for motorcycles in Milan).
Looks pretty good, even sans totty…
Looking good in Race Livery…
Some merch…
LIDS
New official Lambretta helmets… colour matched to the new models. I suspect these will go down well, even with hardcore traditionalists
A new flagship carbon fibre model…
Like their forebears, there are now some official accessories, racks, screens and more.
That’s it for now. I think the quality of ‘fit and finish’ on project Vendetta is becoming plain to see. More pics, with details of how you can get hold of one, and how much it’s going to cost you, coming soon.
Not seen these before (although there seem to be a few listed on the Italian eBay site) Pop-up or ‘semaphore’ indicators for a Lambretta (or a classic scooter anyway). They remind me of the ones I used to have on my old split-screen Moggy Minor. I think they’d look good on a restored older open frame model (A-F), or an LC or LD.
You’d need deep pocket though – they’re priced at €2,000!
Luigi from Italy sent me a picture of his scooter, this beautiful Iso – known officially in it’s native Italy simply as the “F” – although maybe better known to British readers as the Iso Milano, (it’s South American name) or the Diva, as it was marketed under in Spain. Iso developed the F after an initial collaboration with, of all people Maserati… I wrote about the only known surviving scooter from this collaboration here. The lines of the F are classically italian, the scooter bears more than a passing resemblance to a Lambretta Series 1/2 and the Vespa VNB, depending on which angle you’re looking at it from 🙂
Luigi knows a thing or two about classic scooters, having written the Iso pages on the (excellent) Scooter d’Epoca site.
Spotted this pretty little Italian Moped while I should have been doing something more productive with my time. To my eye, prettier, and sportier looking than Innocenti’s Lambrettino 48, which didn’t have much going for it other than links to the Lambretta. Made by Moto Bianchi, if I was an Italian sixteen-year old in 1968, this is what I’d have wanted. Other than a Lambretta, of course!
Loving the mildly dropped bars, which give it a slightly café racer feel, and the sensuous curve from the frame to the tank – which lifts it from the many Honda Super Cub clones. It’s currently a very reasonable £1000 on the catawiki auction site, here.
Not a lot of description on this one, so if you’re interested, I’s suggest a little personal research… I spotted this Model A on the Italian eBay site. Now it’s obviously where it all began for Lambretta… so this is an important machine. They don’t come up that often, so this may be your chance to own a bit of Lambretta and automotive history!
On the Italian eBay site is this rather lovely LC and sidecar combo. It’s €12,500, which bearing in mind the state of the pound, is a little on the steep side. If you’re not lucky enough to live in Italy, he’ll ship it internationally.