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Registered: 07-2003
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 14340
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Lambretta a part of history


The Lambretta was a line of motor scooters manufactured in Milano (Milan), Italy. The name Lambretta comes from the name of a small river (Lambro) in Milan, near the factory.

In 1922, Ferdinando Innocenti of Pescia built a steel tubing factory in Rome. In 1931, he took the business to Milano (Milan), Italy where he built a larger factory producing seamless steel tubing and employing about 6,000. During 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 to produce a motor scooter – competing on cost and weather protection against the ubiquitous motorcycle. Innocenti company started production of Lambretta scooters in 1947 and ceased production in 1971. However, Lambrettas were manufactured under licence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India and Spain, sometimes under other names but always to a recognizable design (e.g. Siambretta in South America and Serveta in Spain).

As wealth increased in Western Europe in the late 60s, the demand for motorscooters fell as the small car became available to more people and Lambretta started to struggle financially. The British Motor Corporation (BMC) took advantage of Innocenti's financial difficulties as well as their production and engineering expertise and contracted Innocenti to produce cars under license from BMC. The Innocenti Mini used the mechanical components of the original but was in many ways superior to it.

Innocenti/Lambretta was eventually sold to BMC. With BMC's lack of foresight, they had cottoned on to a fashion trend that was ending rapidly. Long industrial strikes in BMC ensued; motor scooter sales took a nosedive and Innocenti shut up shop 1972.

The Indian government bought the factory for essentially the same reasons that Ferdinando Innocenti had built it after the War. India was a country with poor infrastructure, economically not ready for small private cars yet with a demand for private transport. “Scooters India Ltd.,” a state-run enterprise began production a couple of years later. They stopped producing scooters in 1998. Scooters India Ltd. production now centers on a 3-wheeler pick-up truck powered by the Lambretta engine. Bajaj Auto is a major Indian automobile manufacturer that now produces scooters similar to the Vespa.


Construction and Models
Like Vespas, Lambrettas have 3 or 4 gears and two stroke motors with capacities ranging from 49cc to 198cc. Most two-stroke engines require a mixture of oil with the gasoline in order to lubricate the piston and cylinder.

Unlike the Vespa, which was built with a unibody chassis pressed from sheets of steel, Lambrettas were based around a more rigid tubular frame. Early versions were available in 'closed', with fully covered mechanicals or 'open', with minimal panels and thus looking like an unusual motorcycle. (For the latter, see Ruth Orkin's famous photograph American Girl in Italy.) The much greater success of the 'closed' version confirmed that riders wanted protection from the weather and a clean looking machine.

Along with the Vespa, Lambretta was an iconic vehicle of the 1950s and 60s when they became the adopted vehicle of choice for the UK youth-culture known as Mods. Of the 1960s models, the TV (Turismo Veloce) and SX (Special X) models are generally considered the most desirable due to their increased performance and refined look. These two models came with a front disc brake. The TV was the first production two-wheeled vehicle with a front disc brake.

Today Lambrettas have attracted an ecclectic following of "revival" mods, collectors, scooterists, and even racers. Vespa and Lambrettas both can be converted to fun and relatively fast machines with little modification. Many owners customize these scooters with elaborate customizations and paintwork.



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3/Jul/2006, 5:14 pm Link to this post Send Email to Simpa   Send PM to Simpa AIM MSN
 
Lombard Mod Profile
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Registered user

Registered: 03-2007
Location: Milan, Lombardy
Posts: 12
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Re: Lambretta a part of history


quote:

Simpa wrote:

 The name Lambretta comes from the name of a small river (Lambro) in Milan, near the factory.






Hope you don't mind if I specify that the name Lambretta comes from the borough of Lambrate a very small town near Milan at the present moment become part of Milan itself.

Anyway, sad enough this is what remains of the glorious Innocenti Factory

Image

Regards.






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11/Apr/2008, 3:30 pm Link to this post Send Email to Lombard Mod   Send PM to Lombard Mod
 


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