Lambretta –1959 Scottish Six Day Trial (Part 2 )

http://www.lcgb.co.uk/index.html http://www.innocenti.org/ Links To LCGB & LCS Lambretta was a line of motor scooters originally manufactured in Milan, Italy by Innocenti but also manufactured under licence by Société Industrielle de Troyes (S.I.T.) in France, NSU in Germany, Serveta in Spain, API in India, Pasco in Brazil, Auteca in Colombia and Siambretta in Argentina. In 1972, the Indian government bought the Milanese factory and the rights to the Lambretta name, creating Scooters India Limited (SIL). Today, the Innocenti brand name rights are owned by Fiat whereas the oldest Lambretta and Lambro trademark registrations are owned by Lambretta Consortium and are licensed to various companies who want association with the iconic brand. n 1922, Ferdinando Innocenti of Pescia built a steel-tubing factory in Rome. In 1931, he took the business to Milan 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. D’Ascanio, who hated motorbikes, designed a revolutionary vehicle. It was built on a spar-frame with a handlebar gear change and the engine mounted directly on to the rear wheel. The front protection “shield” kept the rider dry and clean in comparison to the open front end on motorcycles. The pass-through leg area design was geared towards women, as wearing dresses or skirts made riding conventional motorcycles a challenge. The front fork, like an aircraft’s landing gear, allowed for easy wheel changing. The internal mesh transmission eliminated the standard motorcycle chain, a source of oil, dirt and aesthetic misery. This basic design allowed a series of features to be deployed on the frame which would later allow quick development 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, there by allowing him to revive both parts of his pre-War company. General D’Ascanio disassociated himself with Innocenti and took his design to Enrico Piaggio who produced the spar framed Vespa from 1946.

Duration : 0:8:7

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