Lammie Drive 2 – An even LONGER way on a Lammie!

Posted on June 27, 2013 by crocodilejock

Siobhan Ellis is riding a 1958 Lambretta Series 1 Famebreather (more about the machine in a moment) from the very top of Australia… to the very bottom. In case you hadn’t noticed, Australia is quite a big country. That’s a long way. A very long way. From Cape York to Wilson’s Promontory to be precise… 6,350km (or a gnat’s under 4,000 miles in old money). Making it especially hard the first 800km’s aren’t even on proper roads… but dirt track …dirt track that isn’t even open all year round.

Why?

So why is Siobhan doing this mad, mad journey? Well, it’s all for a good cause… Breast & Prostate Cancer Research at St. Vincents Hospital, Sydney.

Why Lammie Drive TWO? Because Siobhan has a track record of doing this, having ridden the 4,700km from Sydney to Perth back in 2009. This time, there are five riders doing it… and I think they are all on Lammies too.

The Lammie

Siobhan’s scoot is fantastic… a Replica 1959 Scottish 6 Days Trial Lambretta. Which should help a bit on the the first 800k of graded dirt track. The pics show Siobhan’s fine machine with a Targa twin, but for the event she has opted for a super crank single cylinder.

When?

They kick off from Cape York on 23rd of July, ending up in Melbourne 23 days later on the 16th August. To cap it all off, Siobhan is taking the next couple of days to ride back to Sydney. Take a look at the map!

Sponsorship

Siobhan’s already received great support… from the LCGB, And the Lambretta Club’s of Germany, Italy and the USA, she’s also receiving great support from Lambretta Evergreen. Check out all the generous sponsors here. But what this basically mean’s the expenses are covered… so everything raised goes to charity. It’s a good cause… so dig deep and chip in.

You can follow her progress, find out more, and contribute on the Lammie Drive 2 Website here or Facebook page; here.

If you do the Twitter thang, it’s twitter.com/LammieDrive

www.lammiedrive.org.au

Kelvinator Avanti

Posted on June 21, 2013 by crocodilejock

So, I know the name Kelvinator… they make fridges, freezers… that sort of stuff right… oh yeah, and Lambrettas. Of a sort. Well to be honest, I didn’t know that last bit. So, as well as companies like SIL and API, and even Vijai that I know were making Lambrettas under license in the subcontinent, so was a international maker of white goods. Weird.

And there’s one for sale on eBay. Ok, it’s in bits… and it suffers from many of the same ‘styling issues’ as the Lamby Polo that I posted about previously… but for some reason I don’t mind the look of this one so much. Maybe it’s because the paint isn’t so lairy. Or the panels are a bit better. The V*spa style headlight is weird, but not too ugly… and it has got a similar horrible (imho) PX / Polo style horncasting. But if you can live with all that, and you fancy a proper ‘curryburner’ with a difference, you can buy it on eBay, here. And it’s cheap for Lammie.

Mystery Early 60’s Lambretta Wedding Movie!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by crocodilejock

http://www.wimbledonguardian.co.uk/video/2486002597001/?ref=vidshare

This is a wonderful piece of social history, a wedding video featuring a whole brace of Lambrettas from the the Mitcham Goons Scooter Club…

It was found at a car boot sale in Wimbledon by the son of a film historian, Barry Littlechild.

I think it dates from the early 60’s… judging by the machines (several Series 2’s) and it’s probably something to do with the movie “Come September“, starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida, which came out in 61. So, does anybody know anymore? Who’s the bride? Were you a member of the Mitcham Goons? If you were, or you know more of the story, please let me know – I’d love to follow this up… or let the guys at the Wimbledon Guardian know direct. The full story is here, on the Wimbledon Guardian website.

Quadrophenia LI150 fetches £36,000

Posted on June 12, 2013 by crocodilejock

The film Quadrophenia was a life changing movie for me, and many others. I can’t believe many people reading this blog would not have seen it, so I won’t bang on about it.

One of the iconic scooters in the film was Jimmy’s LI150 Lambretta… customised in full mod style (the other of course, being the Ace Face’s Vespa GS).

After filming finished, the ‘Jimmy Bike’ was sold to scooter dealers Rafferty Newman and put on display in the window of their shop in Portsmouth. It was later sold and used on the road, before being left to rot in the garden of a quiet suburb. In 1995, it was rescued and restored to it’s original glory. And, although it’s not my cup of tea, it epitomises many people’s idea of the classic mod Lambretta.

So much so, it has become a pop cultural icon in it’s own right. And, as the headline revealed, it sold recently at auction, at Bonhams for an eye-watering £36k.

Bit of a bitsa…

Posted on June 11, 2013 by crocodilejock

I found this for sale on Car & Classic, and this one had me scratching my head…

I thought it was a 50’s racer when I first saw it… but it didn’t look like any 50’s racer I’d ever seen before. And Model D based racers were either 125’s or 150’s surely… Closer inspection threw up more questions than answers…

The machine in described as a 50 DL… (I mistakenly thought the D bit of this referred to a model D) As you probably know, what was marketed in the UK as a GP was sold in Italy and other markets as a DL. So, at least part of it is from a GP as we know it. But DL/GP’s were 125/150/200cc… But, a Lui was 50cc… which brings me to the forks and wheels… which are distinctly Luna line.

So. It’s a bit of a mongrel, put together from different parts of different models. But it has been done rather nicely, and it looks pretty good, if a little underpowered at 50cc. Legal if you are 16 though… there’s a thought.

Personally, I’d lose the rack, it doesn’t work on a “racer” for me, but otherwise this is a good looking, fun scooter. Not for everyone of course. If you fancy a 50cc with a Innocenti heritage, and the ability to turn a few heads (and make a few people scratch theirs too), it’s for sale here.

The site that Car & Classic links to is Nerves Auto, an Italian site featuring some lovely sports and classic cars.

1954 Lambretta F on eBay

Posted on June 10, 2013 by crocodilejock

There’s a stunning Lambretta F on eBay, in it’s original maroon colour. Originally part of the famous Mike Karslake collection, this rare scooter would turn heads wherever it went. And, as we now know, these scooters can now fly!

You really wont believe this.

Posted on June 9, 2013 by crocodilejock

Look what turned up at EuroLambretta in Avignon. I’ve seen it all now.

I’m not going to comment much on this, and the guys at Lambretta Club de France are going to post a full picture set soon… so just sit back, check out these few images and have your mind blown.

I think the technical term is Paramotor. Powered paragliding (PPG). Powered by an open framed Lambretta. My gob is smacked. My ghast is flabbered. Amazing. I want a go… I think!

EuroLambretta 2014 – Davos, Switzerland

Posted on June 5, 2013 by crocodilejock

If you couldn’t make it to EuroLambretta 2013, which is about to kick off any minute now, or youron your way / already there and you are already thinking about next years, it’s in Davos, Switzerland. Now the only two things I know about Davos, are 1) They hold financial summits for the G8 countries there, and 2) It sounds a bit like Davros… leader of the Daleks. So I won’t be much help. But maybe this Wikipedia article will.

The dates are 27th– 29th June, and more details will be forthcoming, once the current Euro is over, from the Lambretta Club Swiss.

It’s actually only 2 miles further than Avignon, according to a quick bit of ‘research’ on Google Maps, but I have heard that Switzerland is quite “hilly”.
I expect this rally will run like clockwork.

Israeli Police S1 and sidecar

Posted on June 5, 2013 by crocodilejock

Found this great shot of an Israeli Police scooter with sidecar. I’m digging through my archive shots, as I think I have a line up of Israel Police on TV 2’s… without sidecars… somewhere. If any Lambretta enthusiasts over in the holy land can help me out with any more information or pics, I’d appreciate it.

Look out Avignon, here come the Banshees…

Posted on June 4, 2013 by crocodilejock

The boys from the Ulster Lambretta Club (otherwise known as the Banshees) are well on there way to Avignon. Have a great trip fella’s…

I’m posting this, because when I finally decided I needed to get a scooter again, I nearly bought a V#spa from Dave O’Hare from The ULC. If I had, this blog would probably never have existed, but it does, because I bought a Series 2 Lammie instead. Dave send me some bits and bobs from the 4 nations rally anyway… including a ULC keyring, what a gent. One day, I will get to buy him a pint!

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Lammie Drive 2 – An even LONGER way on a Lammie!