Great read: The Lambretta Bible

Veloce Books in the UK has released this wonderful little tome, The Lambretta Bible, by Pete Davis.

The Lambretta brand has been a sleeper for many years and it defies belief that someone hasn't tried to revive it, considering the remarkable cultural profile it has managed to maintain over all these years.

The author says in his introduction: "My reason for writing this book was to try to put under 'one roof' as much information as possible about the Italian-built Lambrettas and machines prepared and modified by Lambretta Concessionaires, along with those dealer specials prepared by the main UK dealers in the 1960s and early 1970s."

The history of Lambretta is very similar to fellow Italian brand Vespa. Industrialist Ferdinando Innocenti needed to rebuild his tube steel factory out of the post WWII rubble and saw an opening for cheap transport. Like the Vespa, the 1947 M-model Lambretta drew much of its design inspiration from the pre-war American Cushman and ended up being produced in several nations around the world. Its production centre ended up in Milan.

Italian production ceased in 1972, while manufacturing in India finished as late as 1998.

While the company licensed out its design, it also bought in work and, for a while, produced BMC cars.

Imports to Australia began in 1949, with the B model, and the company has had a patchy local history ever since, failing to gain the same outright market strength achieved by Vespa over that time.

It was during the 1960s that the machines gained cult status in the western world and somehow they've managed to burn themselves into the international psyche.

This book covers 1947 through to 1971 model years and contains a compelling mix of information for the enthusiast. It walks us through each of the major models, providing a wealth of production, technical and sales information.

It can be a fairly dry read, much enlivened by the rich colour illustration throughout, and would be an absolute essential for anyone who planned to buy one of these scooters as a toy and/or restoration project.

You get the occasional laugh along the way, with little gems such as the courageous effort to build an amphibious version. It worked, but was never marketed, and the prototype eventually succumbed to salt water corrosion and sank. It's not every day you get to read about sea trials for a scooter!

Capricorn Link distributes it locally, for $85 -- well worth the money for an enthusiast of the brand, or anyone with a strong historic interest in scooters.

Click on the following link to learn more about Lambrettas.