That’s an early model Lambretta. VERY early…
“Excuse me centurion… could you tell me the way to the nearest Lambretta dealer?”Reminded me of this (Sorry, no scooters).
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum…
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Tag Archives: scooter
Stolen scooter?
If you have the misfortune to have your scooter nicked… Get it registered on the Lambretta Club of Great Britain’s National Stolen Scooter Registry
I can’t write it any clearer than they do themselves… so here goes… ” [The NSSR] is a detailed list of scooters or scooter parts stolen from owners in the UK. This information is provided by the owner in the hope that scooterists at large can help them recover their property by being vigilant and notifying them (or myself) should you become aware of stolen property that appears in the “LCGB National Stolen Scooter Registry“.
I urge you to contact me should you have any STRONG suspicion regarding any purchase, particularly on sites such as Ebay to check any potential purchase does not appear on the LCGB National Stolen Scooter Registry. All information received is treated in the strictest confidence.
Paul Slack – LCGB Webmaster/NSSR Representative
And good luck in getting your pride and joy back.
Tukxi! Go Ape at the seaside
Phew, the unexpected sunshine is fantastic scooter riding weather… and maybe you can even squeeze in one more trip to the beach. And we all know the English Seaside and scooter go together like cheese and marmalade (try it, it works!).
If you’re going, there’s few better places than Lyme Regis, Dorset… on of the extra attractions for me is this beautiful Tuk Tuk Taxi (or Tukxi!) What better way to see Lyme. Den, Tukxi’s owner, will also hire her out for weddings, promotions, TV and film work… check out the rather nicely put together website for all the details!
I know this is a Vespa based Tuk Tuk, not a Lambretta, but she is unarguably beautiful. And I’m going to throw in a little bit of extra trivia for you. The model is a Piaggio Calessino, (one of less than a thousand made), and it’s base model, as you will doubtless know is called the Ape. Not Ape to rhyme with Grape… but pronounced A–pey …the Italian for “bee”. Because Vespa is the Italian for Wasp… geddit? These scooter based vehicles were real workhorses for many years around Europe, the backbone of many a small business. To see one based on a Lambretta, check my Café Scooteria post.
Svalan – a scooter from Sverige
We all know that when it comes to the heyday of scooters, there were more marques around than just Lambretta and V•spa.
Most European countries, including the UK, tried to get on the bandwagon, with varying success in their home markets.
My Twitter pal JahSeagrove points brought to my attention the Svalan – you might call it the Volvo of Scooters – made in his homeland, Sweden in the height of the 1950’s scooter boom.
He tells the story of his discovery, ownership, and restoration here… and a nice little ‘oddball’ it is too… I particularly like the twin headlight version!
Even Thomas (Jah’s alter ego) admits a preference for the more well know Lambretta and Vespa marques… and there’s a lot of great stuff on his scooter blog that worth checking out. There’s some lovely shots of a Series 1 Lambretta he’s acquired, …it might just be beyond saving that one, even though it is a TV. Luckily he’s got another TV1 in better nick tucked away somewhere too!
I’m actually more jealous of his Model D… Loving that green paint.
Lambrettas on the Lingotto – the roof of the (former) FIAT factory
This is one of my dreams… racing my (extremely slow) Series round the track on the roof of the iconic former FIAT factory in Turin.
Probably most well known in the UK for it’s brief appearance in the Italian Job, The Lingotto is an incredible work of modernist architecture. It was more than a factory, more of an enourmous machine for making cars… raw materials coming in on the ground floor, being built on s production line that progressed up the building before emerging, finished onto the rooftop test track. Brilliant.
No longer a car factory… now a business centre / concert hall / theatre / art gllery / shopping mall / hotel / university… (you might start to get an idea how BIG this thing is.
Italian owners of classic scooters had the chance to take thier scoots up the famous spiral ramp and put their machines through their paces on this classic track… thanks to a famous energy drink. The Red Bull Special Lingotto took place on the 25th of September (apparently it’s the third time they’ve done it), and awarded prizes for creativity as well as speed. I’d love to do that.
Found this story over at Italian site motoblog.it, which is also where I nicked the pictures from. Sorry that it appears to be mainly V•spas!
The Brazil Connection – The Xispa
Everybody knows that the Lambretta comes from Italy. Most know that it was also made in India. And many know it was also made in Spain. At a pinch you might even mention Germany and France. But Brazil? Or Brasil, as it is more correctly spelled? Perhaps it’s my Eurocentric world view, but I was quite surprised when I first found out. (For completists, Lambretta’s were also made under license in Argentina, Taiwan and Colombia).
The history of the Lambretta in Brasil stretches right back to 1955, and in fact it has clams to being Brasil’s first automotive manufacturer. Between 1958 and 1960, in it’s heyday the factory was producing more than 50,000 scooters a year. The mainstay of Brazilian production was based upon the Italian LI Series 2, which they produced from 1960. Known from 1964 as “Pasco Lambretta” the scooter market began to suffer the same slow decline in fortunes that was happening in Europe.
In an attempt to kickstart the market and keep up with changing automotive fashions, they launched one of the Lambretta families more unusual members (to European eyes anyway)… the Xispa. This was a kind of hybrid scooter/monkeybike with many (as you’ll see in the pics) Lambretta components.
There was a 150cc and 175cc version which did well in the domestic market, until the inevitable rise and eventual dominance of imported Japanese motorcycles and mopeds. This all but saw the end of Lambretta production in Brazil, although their final throw of the dice was the slimline style Lambretta Cynthia (which I will feature at a later point I’m sure) and the ‘cutdown’ version of this… the MS150… the factory trimmed sidepanels and MS designation earning it the nickname “the MiniSkirt”.
As I mentioned in a previous post, there is a healthy interest in classic Lambretta’s and active club scene in Brasil (and also Argentina, but that’s another story). There also appears to be a few Xispa’s on the market… an ideal machine for the Lambretta collector with an eye for the unusual. For instance, here’s a very nice example, going for about 4,000 Brazilain Reals (about £1,100 at current exchange rates). You’ll have to ship it over from Brasil of course! I like it, I think it’s got a certain ’70s charm… and it also reminds me of those fantastic racing “Lambretta da Corsa” scooters from the fifties.
UPDATE:
Some useful links if you want to find out more about Lambretta’s in Brasil. Or stat tuned and I’ll get round to writing some more, espcially abut the Cynthia, and the MS!
Lambretta LN… at least it’s not a Pato!
The kindest way to describe the Lambretta LN’s reception in the UK is to say it has been mixed. A lot of people, mainly those of us with ‘proper’ Lambretta scooters simply don’t like it.
Well, here’s the good news… at least it’s not a Pato… the “Lambretta” they have had to put up with in the states for the last couple of years.
Back in Vogue
Mod photoshoot Video for Italian Vogue. All the credits are at the end of the video, apart from, strangely, the music. Which is by The Eyes… I’m rowed out.
From Russia with love
We all know you can’t beat a classic Lambretta, but if you’ve got a yen for something a litlle different in the classic scooter stakes, how about this lovely Tula 200cc scoot from the former Soviet Union.
Very much in lin1950’s Teutonic style coachwork… a huge front mudguard reminiscent of a Hienkel, but the rear very similar to the Glas Gogo… this was a beast designed to cope with the worst that the Russian winters could throw at it.
On eBay now for a grand, classified price.
Scooters at the Peterson Automotive Museum
There’s some beautiful scooters over at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, where alongside the Americana, historic vehicles and supercars they are running a special Scooters Exhibit until May next year. Here’s a video of what you can expect to see if you go.
There’s a lot here that fits into my own person category of “oddball”, which basically means anything that isn’t a Lambretta or V*spa… please note that is not a derogatory term, I would love to own a Moto Rumi for example… I’m even starting to see the charm of those Cushmans and Salisburys these days!
If you’re in the LA locale, it’s worth a visit.
Video, and heads up from JohnnyScoots
lambrettista.net 