 SCOOTERING ISSUE 263 MAY 2008 VESPA LAMBRETTA $1.58 Time Remaining: 1h 35m |
 SCOOTERING ISSUE 264 JUNE 2008 VESPA LAMBRETTA $1.58 Time Remaining: 1h 36m |
 NME Originals Mod Modzine Vespa Lambretta 60s Soul $9.47 Time Remaining: 1h 43m |
 MCMF 31 Mar 1982 Triumph TSS Lambretta 240SS Suzuki DR400 250 Katana Mel Nolan $5.37 Time Remaining: 2h 7m Buy It Now for only: $5.37 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 CB Dec 2002 Suzuki GT550 Seeley 500 Ducati Cucciolo Police Triumph Lambretta NSU $4.74 Time Remaining: 4h 30m Buy It Now for only: $4.74 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 The Book Of Motorcycles Trail Bikes Scooters 1965 BSA Lambretta Yamaha $42.95 Time Remaining: 7h 43m Buy It Now for only: $42.95 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 Lambretta scooter windscreens 1959 magazine advert $7.89 Time Remaining: 20h 35m Buy It Now for only: $7.89 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 Autosport 22 5 53 ULSTER TROPHY DUNDROD TARGA FLORIO LAMBRETTA SCOOTER TEST $12.63 Time Remaining: 1d 48m Buy It Now for only: $12.63 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 21st July 1949 MOTOR CYCLING BSA 500 Lambretta 125cc Cyril Quantrill $7.89 Time Remaining: 1d 12h 54m |
 5th March 1959 MOTOR CYCLING Sammy Miller Velocette 348 Lambretta Li 150 $7.89 Time Remaining: 1d 13h 47m |
 CLASSIC M CYCLE magazine 6 86 feat Lambretta AJS 7R $7.89 Time Remaining: 1d 19h 4m Buy It Now for only: $7.89 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 Scootering January 2012 Lambretta Rallymaster Vespa Pete Townshend $7.89 Time Remaining: 1d 22h 38m Buy It Now for only: $7.89 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 Motorcycle World Magazine Nov 1967 Honda Super 90 Lambretta X 200 $16.95 Time Remaining: 2d 2h 9m Buy It Now for only: $16.95 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 Scootering Magazine Lambretta Vespa Quadrophenia January No307 NEW $1.56 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 2d 14h 8m |
 BULTACO Pursang 250 370 test + Lambretta GP200 GP150 test Motorcycle News 1978 $7.89 Time Remaining: 3d 1h 7m |
 SCOOTERING Magazine MARCH 2007 249 Lambretta Vespa Scooter Rally $1.56 Time Remaining: 3d 2h 7m |
 SCOOTERING LAMBRETTA ENGINEER CASSOLA May 2008 263 $7.89 Time Remaining: 3d 4h 22m Buy It Now for only: $7.89 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
 SCOOTERING 100mph LAMBRETTA December 1999 166 $7.89 Time Remaining: 3d 4h 25m Buy It Now for only: $7.89 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
Useful info about the History of the Lambretta
In 1922, Ferdinando Innocenti of Pescia built a steel-tubing factory in Rome. In 1931, he took the business to Milan where he built a more substantial factory producing seamless steel tubing and employing about 6,000. Throughout the Second World War, the factory was heavily bombed and destroyed. It is said that surveying the ruins, Innocenti saw the future of cheap, private transport and decided they would produce a motor scooter – competing on cost and weather protection with the ubiquitous motorcycle.
Concept
The leading stimulus for the design style of the Lambretta and Vespa goes back to Pre-WWII Cushman scooters produced in Nebraska, USA. These olive green scooters were in Italy in huge numbers, ordered originally by Washington as field transport for the Paratroops and Marines. The United States military had used these to avoid Nazi defence tactics of destroying roads and bridges while in the Dolomites (a section of the Alps) plus the Austrian border areas.
Aeronautical engineer General Corradino D’Ascanio, accountable for the design and construction of the first modern helicopter by Agusta, was handed the task by Ferdinando Innocenti of designing a simple, robust and affordable vehicle. It had to be easy to drive for both men and women , be able to carry a passenger and not get its driver’s clothes soiled.
Design and style
D’Ascanio, who hated motorbikes, developed a revolutionary vehicle. This had been built on a spar frame along with a handlebar gear change also , the engine mounted directly onto the back wheel. The front protection “shield” kept the rider dry and clean compared to the open front end on motorcycles. The pass-through leg area design was aimed at women, as wearing dresses or skirts made riding conventional motorcycles quite a job. The front fork, like an aircraft’s landing gear, allowed for quick wheel changing. The interior mesh transmission eliminated the typical motorcycle chain, an origin of oil and dirt. This basic design allowed a number of features to get deployed around the frame which could later allow quick progression of new models.
However, General D’Ascanio fell out with Innocenti, who rather than a moulded and beaten spar frame wanted to produce his frame from rolled tubing, allowing him to regenerate both areas of his prewar company. General D’Ascanio disassociated himself with Innocenti and took his design to Enrico Piaggio who produced the spar-framed Vespa from 1946 on.
Into production
Going for a year longer to build, the 1947 Lambretta featured a rear pillion seat for a passenger or optionally a storage compartment. The actual front protection “shield” was really a flat section of aero metal; later this developed in to a twin skin to allow for additional storage at the ‘back of’/behind the front shield, the same as the glove compartment in a vehicle. The fuel cap was under the (hinged) seat which saved the cost of an additional lock for the fuel cap or requirement for additional metal work on the smooth skin.
Deriving the name Lambretta from the small river Lambro in Milan, which ran near to the factory, Innocenti started production of Lambretta scooters in 1947 – the year after Piaggio started production of its Vespa models. Lambrettas were manufactured under licence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India and Spain, sometimes under other names but always to a recognizable design (e.g. Siambretta in South America and Serveta in Spain).
BLMC closure of Innocenti
As wealth increased in Western Europe through the late 1960s, the need for motor scooters fell as the small car became available to more and more people and Lambretta started to struggle financially as did parent Innocenti. The British Leyland Motor Corporation took advantage of Innocenti’s financial hardships including their production and engineering expertise and contracted Innocenti to produce cars under licence from BLMC. The Innocenti Mini used the mechanical parts of the original but was in many ways superior to it.
Innocenti/Lambretta was eventually sold to BLMC. Unfortunately, shortage of foresight had caused BLMC to join a fashion trend that was ending rapidly. Long industrial strikes in BLMC ensued; motor-scooter sales took a nosedive, and both Innocenti and Lambretta shut up shop in 1972.
Lambretta Magazines
India
Automobile Products of India / Scooters India Ltd Industry Scooter
Founded 1972
Headquarters Bombay / Lucknow, India
Products Lambretta, Lamby, Vijay, Vikram, Lambro
Website Scooters India
The Indian government bought the factory for fundamentally the same reasons that Ferdinando Innocenti had built it after the War. India was a country with poor infrastructure, economically not prepared for small private cars yet with a demand for private transport.
Automobile Products of India (API) began assembling Innocenti-built Lambretta scooters in India after independence in the 1950s. They eventually acquired a licence to build the Li150 Series 2 model, that was sold under the Lambretta Series 2 name until about 1976 and at a later date changed the name to Lamby for legal reasons as Scooter India Ltd acquired the entire Innocenti Unit in 1972. API also built the trademark model [API-175] 3 wheeler that was based on Innocenti’s Lambro. API continued to build Lambretta-derived models till the 1980s but have most certainly been non-operational since 2002.
In 1972, Scooters India Ltd. (SIL) a state-run enterprise situated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, bought the whole Lambretta manufacturing and trademark rights. Former Innocenti employees were chosen to set up an Indian factory as the whole set of manuals and machinery instructions were in Italian. The first scooter built was the Vijay Delux/DL, which was badged the Lambretta GP150 in export markets. This sold poorly resulting from build problems and was enhanced becoming the Vijay Super. Further improvements were made in the final years of production by incorporating a contemporary Japanese CDI unit and an advanced front suspension. SIL also distributed CKDs which were assembled in various parts of India and sold as the Allwyn Pusphak, Falcon, and Kesri. They were of a lower quality compared to the SIL produced models and sometimes incorporated significant styling changes.
SIL production seems to have peaked within the financial year 1980-1981, with around 35,000 scooters being built. However by 1987 this had dropped to around 4,500 units with production finally ceasing in 1997. As of 2010 S.I.L.’s production now centres on the Vikram 3-wheeler, powered by way of the Lambretta engine. SIL also produces limited spares for the GP/DL selection of scooters. [8] [9] There’s also an established export trade in second-hand Lambrettas (and their derivatives), primarily to the UK market.
Today
Within the United States Of America, Scooters India Ltd licensed the Khurana Group USA LLC to manufacture and distribute scooters with the Lambretta brand. The first release in 2008 were rebadged Adly models [10] of contemporary design, including a 49 cc DUE50, a 49 cc UNO50 and a 150 cc UNO150.
You can still find clubs across Europe and the UK, both national and local clubs, dedicated to the Lambretta scooter. The clubs still participate and organize ride outs and rallies which regularly take place during weekends throughout the summer months and also have high attendance, some rallies achieve 2,500 paying rally goers. Across the UK there are numerous privately owned scooter shops which deal with everything Lambretta, from sales, services, parts, tuning, performance and also nut and bolt restorations.
(Artical taken from wiki and spun)
Lambretta Magazines
