History of the Lambretta Supreme

Scooters are a matter of craze for many people, especially the youth. But how many of us know the history and origin of this wonderful vehicle? Let us go through those interesting facts.

The first manufacturer of a motor scooter was Autoped Company of Nebraska in the United States. These small scooters came on to the roads in 1914. But the high cost of gas during the World War I had a negative effect on sales and after the availability of other modes of transport after the war saw the closing down of the factory. It was in 1922 Ferdinado Innocenti of Pesia, Italy moved to Rome and started manufacturing steel tubes and his tubes were well accepted throughout Europe. In 1931 he established a bigger facility in Milan to manufacture seamless tube and again the superior quality made this product well accepted in the market.

The Milan seamless tube factory was completely destroyed in the Second World War and the roads in Italy were in shambles. There was hardly any road in Italy that was left undamaged and transport became a problem for people. By that time Piaggio had just started production of his scooters. Innocenti thought this is the quick and economic answer to the transport problem of people of the war ravaged Italy. He started developing a completely new motor scooter. The development and testing of the prototype took one year and in 1947 commercial production started. Innocenti gave the name Lambretta to his new product as Lambretta is the name of a small river in Milan.

The production cost was low when compared to the motorcycle and the operating cost too was very low. A gallon of gas would see the scooter through more than 125 miles. The shield like formation in the front would keep the rider dry and the low platform gave several advantages over the motorbike and it is women friendly. Legs can be kept comfortably on the broad platform and protection from the dirt on the road is made possible. There is no fear of oil dirt from the chain transmission as the Lambretta uses an internal mesh transmission. The fuel cap is under the seat and the seat has a lock and no additional lock is required for the fuel cap in Lambretta.

The Lambretta Supreme model is marketed by the Supreme Motors of London. It is the restored version of the old Lambretta scooters. The Lambretta Supreme model has several modifications over the original SX200. Lambretta Supreme is offered in many color schemes. These color schemes are done exclusively by Supreme Motors. Lambretta Supreme has over 30 different colors to offer to its customers. Hence this Lambretta Supreme is not available anywhere else.

The economic upturn in Western Europe in the 60s led to the unpopularity of two wheelers. The mini cars took its place. Lambretta fell deep into financial trouble. The British Leyland Motor Corporation took over Lambretta. Lambretta made an effort to manufacture small cars with BMC engines and with the Innocenti brand name. The British Leyland Motor Corporation refused to update the models according to the times. The BLMC itself was plagued by industrial action by its labor force. Moreover, the sale of scooters nosedived in Europe. Eventually the Lambretta plant was sold to the Government of India in 1972. They too stopped production of two wheelers in 1998.

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Filed under: Motor Scooters

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