Picked this up in a charity shop a while ago… just for the cover, but it’s got a picture story inside called “A Scooter to Sydney” which I might get round to scanning in one day!
What girls want…
Reply
Tag Archives: Lambretta
Ultimate barn find?
Can you imagine stumbling across this cache of Series 2’s?
Manchester Lyons SC Wedding Ride Out
Nearly 50 scooterist turn out to escort a scooter loving groom to his wedding, then on to Machester City Centre.
Fill her up, please!
I’ve got a bit of a thing for old pics like this… clearly an old publicity shot for BP, but it tells you so much more than it appears to at first glance.
Firstly, and most obviously, is the forecourt service. I vaguely remember people coming to fill my dads car up with petrol… and they still do that at at least one garage the Isle of Wight! Secondly, BP had a pre-mixed “Petroil” product called BP Zoom… a mix of their petrol and Energoil branded 2-stroke. There were a lot more 2 strokes about then, I suppose… but did they all run the same mix? Or could you vary the mix at the pump? Anyone know? Thirdly, and I never knew this, petrol was sold bu the PINT! Remember gallons, obviously… but not pints! Fourthly; (I’m going to give up numbering everything, it’s getting boring) The unit that dispensed the petroil, could be wheeled out… it wasn’t a fixed part of the forecourt. I expect they filled it with petrol from the pumps, and then mixed in the 2 Stroke.
Another shot of a similar vintage shows another young lady filling at a”scooter bay” at a National filling station, their brand of premix named “Hi-Fli”. Thislooks altogether more modern, although the scooter is obviously a Series 1. Anybody got any more shots like this?
Café culture
Image
Lovely old shot of an Italian street scene… early sixties… maybe later, the Series 1 looks quite beaten up!
Lovely Series 1
Image
Came across this beautiful Series I on the LCGB forums, and I just had to post it on here. Great paint and tastefully modified with original, period accessories. Loving the Bienne flyscreen, the front mudguard bumper, the balloon grips, and the SAT Torino seat. The twin Pathfinders lamps are fantastic too. Nicely done, plenty there to make her stand out from standard, without overdoing it and spoiling the classic lines.
Lorryload of Lammies
Image
Came across this pic online… probably a delivery of machines from Italy to Lambretta Concessionaires… I wonder what the contents of that trailer would be worth today!
The Lynx Effect
Funny how things happen. As I was writing my post on indicator gloves, the Lambretta that kept coming to mind was the Serveta Lince (or Lynx). And then, browsing eBay for Lammies (just window shopping I’m afraid) I come across a Lynx. Can’t remember having seen one for sale online before, and certainly not one in this condition… basically “as new”, unsold form the dealer!
Now, back in the day, I remembered being pretty anti this Spanish revision of the classic Lambretta look… The previous Serveta’s 125 and 150 Specials and Jet 200’s… had classic Italian good looks. With the hexagonal headlight trim, from the front, on a good day people thought you might be riding an SX.
But, in my opinion, the Lynx (I’ll continue to use the English translation, rather than the original Spanish “Lince” name) was the Lambretta equivalent of a Vespa PX. An improvement over what went before in many ways… but just fugly. (Sorry all you PX owners and riders, but I never liked them. And although they too have now gained classic status, they are still not quite my cup of tea). Improvements like 12v electrics and electronic ignition are things we take for granted now, but were exotic, and fairly expensive modifications back in the 80’s. Or they seemed expensive to me, if memory serves. They came as standard on the Lynx, but weren’t enough to overcome the styling issues. Serveta’s, at least amongst my circle were a step down from a genuine Italian Lammy too. Of course, they weren’t as bad as a “curryburner”, SIL GP… which had a pretty poor (and probably undeserved) reputation at the time. Back to the Lynx though… and modern consensus has it that the Serveta build quality was as good, or better than that of the Italian originals.
But, perception is everything. And while the PX line took off and did great things for Vespa, (and continues to with the 2010 relaunched PX range) the Lynx withered on the vine. I’ve got the feeling (can anyone back me up on this?) they were significantly more expensive… and they were certainly harder to get hold of, with only a few dealers having demonstrators. While the PX was an all new bike, fresh from the ground up, The Lynx was another facelift for a classic Lambretta, and, for a Lammy, it just wasn’t pretty enough.
With the benefit of hindsight, I think the Lynx looks pretty good. They definitely have a retro 80’s vibe going on. Their initial unpopularity has become a plus, rarity being a tick in the positive column these days. And if you want one, you can get one, on eBay today. You might even attract more attention than a restored SX on a scooter rally. And certainly more than a PX!
So did you own one? Do you? What is your opinion / experience of this overlooked 80’s classic from Spain?
Lambrettista. Now on WordPress.
With the sad demise of Posterous, the ‘platform’ which got me started on blogging in the first place, I had to look round for alternatives. WordPress seems the way to go… so here I am. All the old content from the Posterous site should import later… and things might look a little different around here… but rest assured it will still be dedicated to “the world’s finest motor scooter” The Lambretta.
In the meantime, until the end of the month, you can still check out the old Lambrettista here: http://lambrettista.posterous.com/
New record for riding a Lammie no handed
Don’t try this at home kids!
Lussio Lisarelli from Gubbio, in Italy had a liver transplant a few years ago. He wanted to show the world what 70 year old transplant survivors could do. So he decided to go for the world record for riding a Lambretta, without using your hands. Like you do.
Suffice it to say, he did it, travelling 1,150 metres, and exceeding 13 minutes. No handed. On a Lambretta. For the technically minded who wnat to work out how he did it I’m going to cut and paste directly from the “To lead 2 stroke” (Italian) vintage scooter blog where I found the story.
“Lucio part, meshes with the gears up to the 2nd or 3rd as needed, and then locks the knob with a rubber band already rolled up on the handlebar”
You might understand that, but I’m none the wiser. Sounds dangerous enough without locking your knob up with an elastic band… but I think it may just be lost in (Google) translation 🙂
lambrettista.net 
