Latest whispers on the L70 Lambretta Vendetta

unnamed-5Further rumours (from a reliable source) have reached Lambrettista Towers concerning the new official Lambretta. The name, Vendetta, as suspected, refers to the ongoing family rivalry between Vespa and Lambretta. L70 is the code name referencing Lambretta’s 70th anniversary in 2017.

The scooter is going to be a “No Compromise” high-end machine… aimed at customers who are willing to pay a little more for a quality product. So, it’s not some cheap, ‘plastic fantastic’.

The rumoured specs are interesting (and positive) too;  Steel cage bodywork built around a tubular frame, steel legshields, aluminium handlebars/switches and decorative trim, removable sidepanels with interchangeable plastic, sheet metal and carbon fibre options. Initial Vendetta models will be powered by a range of air-cooled engines, in 50, 125 and 180cc capacities. There is talk of a water-cooled model in development. (If you read an earlier version of this post I’d got this the wrong way round).

There is also plans for a range of aftermarket parts. Stock plastic parts will be interchangeable with carbon fibre parts. The sidepanels will be 3d printable or steel. There’s serious talk of a high-performance tuning kit. So, much like a classic Lambretta, you’ll be able to specify and customise your Vendetta ‘your way’.

As mentioned in previous posts, the scooter is designed by Internationally renowned design house Kiska (famous for their relaunch of the classic Swedish Husqvarna motorcycle marque and ongoing work with the ever innovative Austrian brand KTM).

Detailed specs will follow soon, keep watching this space.

 

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The KTM Ponny

Stumbled across this interesting piece on excellent Retrorambling blog, about the KTM Ponny… regular readers may remember this was a “mystery scooter” featured on the blog a while back, here: http://wp.me/p3rSaF-bWvSs Anyway, this adds a little bit more info if you were taken by these unusual little scoots!

Retrorambling

TM sold out its share for the first time in 1955 to a businessman named, Ernst Kronreif and result he bought the major part of the company. As as result, the consortium was renamed to Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. In 1957, KTM launched its very first moped, the Mecky. Followed by Ponny in 1960 and Ponny II in 1962. Meanwhile, KTM also molded bikes for racing. Unfortunately, the major stake holder, Kronreif died in 1960 and so the founder of KTM, Trunkenploz in 1962.

204_KTM Ponny_001

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Mystery Scooter ID’d!

Screen shot 2013-09-23 at 17.52.53Kudos to Yasin, who Identified the mystery scooter above as a KTM Ponny. A Ponny II to be exact. KTM, or KTM Sportmotorcycle to give them their full name, is a long established (founded in 1934) motorcycle, scooter and bicycle manufacturer from Austria. If you haven’t heard of KTM in relation to scooters, it’s probably because your more familiar with their modern off road bikes and racing sponsorship… you may recognise their livery of orange, black and silver. The Ponny II dates back to 1962, and is, in my humble opinion a good, solid looking scoot. While it may not be as pretty as a Lambretta, (or even aV*spa), it certainly holds it’s own against other scooters of the day.

KTM_Ponny  MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA 1225224182522_f ktm_ponny_ii_dl_dlg_mit_puch_motor_betriebsanleitung_die_technischen_daten_fuer_den_puch_motor_sind_beiliegend_vv_2807

The Ponny II, superseded the original 1960 Ponny scooter (funny that), itself a good looker. In fact, it’s a shame they didn’t keep the twin headlights… that’s a good look!

KTM SCOOTER PONY

KTM carried on making retro looking scooters right into the late 70’s, and while they are pretty much unheard of in the UK (to my knowledge anyway), they have built a cult following in mainland Europe. As you’ll see, the 1979 KTM Hercules pictured below is virtually identical to the 1962 Ponny, with the obvious addition of (rather ugly) indicators. Big, solidly built machines, I don’t know what the performance was like, but I can’t imagine it was blistering with a 50cc engine. I’m not sure if they made a bigger capacity, but it would suit the bike. A quick search of eBay yielded no complete Ponnies or Hercules’s… but a few parts. But it’s one I’ll watch out for in future.KTM Hercules Scooter

This is not my first KTM post, by the way… regular readers may remember my post about the radically styled KTM Electric Scooter… straight from the future of scootering. Check it out here.

If this post has piqued your interest of the KTM marque, you can find out more, below.

KTM Ponny Club Facebook page

KTM Sportmotorcycle Website

KTM Electric Scooter

ImageImageI’m not usually one to post about modern scooters, with a few notable exceptions (Honda Zoomer/Ruckus some ItalJets, and *gasp* the forthcoming Vespa 946 ) I’m generally not a fan. They’re either pretty generic… or poor retro style rip offs of classic lines of Lambrettas and Vespas. But here’s something that looks like it’s come straight from the futre… and being electric, it probably does herald the future for scooters. Unlike (most) other electric vehicles, this one seems to have the performance to back up it’s looks too… Performance comparable with a 125cc Petrol Scoot.

Though not for me, I like my scooters a bit more traditional… but if I were a young ‘un… maybe this is the sort of thing that would turn my head.

Find out more at Scooterfile.

If, like me, you like you’re scooters with classic italian lines, check out these previous posts:

EcoLa: An electric powered Model D

Ebretta: Classic Lambretta looks with an electric powertrain