[abhibh]

WOW atlast sm1 started athread on this . We had 2 of them one was with dad long time back in 70's - 80's Was old off in 1996.

And guess what will be price for a this you can get. 2000 GBP+.

Ya dont be shocked in UK they sell for these much. They were in great demand last year dunno about current situation but people there were paying like 4000 GBP tooo..

[Stanher]

Hey guys!
Wow, am I glad to find a thread dedicated to wat seems like a forgotten scooter in the real world!

I'm mad abt Lambrettas & their Indian-made derivatives (Lamby 150, MAC 175S, Vijai Super/Allwyn Pushpak etc.)....

I own a 1985 Vijai Super Mark II (turning front mudguard, altho I'm goin2 change it to the more common, early fixed mudguard) tat I bought & learnt driving on last year. I'm currently looking for a nice Lambretta or even Lamby 150.....infact had first wanted an early 60s Lambretta tat was owned by a mechanic I knew at hyd. years ago but my parents had veto'd it then! :-(

Sadly, u dont find many of them wher I live....quite a rare sight here now & so all the more difficult to fiind a good eg. They still can be seen in Hyd. & even in Pune from wat I found in my last visit!

Wats even more sad is tat many of these scoots r now being exported in shiploads to dealers abroad, mainly in the UK! :-(

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Any Vijai Super lovers here? After all its a Lamberetta too - just a later version which went like stink (for those days, I mean).

Yup, I own a '85 one.....and ur rite, it indeed is a Lambretta clone- originally known as Grand Prix (GP), w/ 125, 150 as well as 200cc engines...the last model made by Innocenti b4 they sold out to SIL (Scooters India ltd.) Lucknow, who still own the Lambretta brand name.....really cool scoot considering its 'slim' body (styled by Bertone!), wich I understand, made it a revolution in India wen it was newly launched in the 70s, compared to the more obsolete looks of its then contemporaries Bajaj & Lambretta/Lamby!
Unftly the manufacturing was put in the hands of the wrong co. who screwed it up w/ their lack of quality standards plus inefficient manpower & so it didnt always find the popularity tat it deserved!
Nevertheless, I'm told ther wer long queues to buy this scooter back then.....it became so popular tat here in AP it got a clone named Vijai Pushpak, made by Andhra Pradesh scooter co. at Hyd., who later renamed it as Allwyn Pushpak (w/ an ugly bajaj type front mudguard!) & another one made by Kelvinator as the Avanti until the mid 80s...

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm.. Isn't Lambretta different from Lamby? I know later models were called Lamby, but ours said Lambretta on the front, not Lamby.
Don't know the history that well, but I remember there was a difference between Lamby and Lambretta.
Edit: If I am not mistaken Lambretta was much heavier than Lamby.

Ur rite, Lambretta & Lamby r different, but only cosmetically (& to sum extent bodily w/ respect to the mudguard/side panels/legshields)...herez a pic. of a Lamby:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/41260.jpg

I read tat API had first wanted to buy the Innocenti plant in Italy in the early 70s wen the latter had decided to shut down & thus saw it as an oppurtunity to replace the aeging Lambretta 'series 2' design w/ a more modern one, the latest one then being the Lambretta GP (Grand Prix) range & also expand their 3-wheeler production.
But then on approaching the govt, they wer declined the chance as the govt., foreseeing a profit in the deal, decided to set up SIL (scooters India ltd.) & sidelined API into an 'advisory board' role...!
API eventually withdrew from the joint-venture & continued w/ its 'series 2' models.......but as it no longer had the licence to use the 'Lambretta' name (wich was acquired by SIL), it changed the name to Lamby (wich I think was already popular as a nickname then) & also introduced a 175cc model named as MAC (after M.A Chidambaram, founder of API), based on the TV175 series 2, but didnt click too well....the 150cc Lamby went on til the mid 80s tho, replaced by the not-too-successful Lamby Polo 150, a rather unattractive Jap redesign.

U can find all this info (& even more) in this little book called The Indian lambretta guide tat u can buy at this site:

http://www.fanaticscooters.co.uk/info_india/index.htm

Originally Posted by Samurai

According to this website, now the original Italian brand belongs to Fiat.

Innocenti did assemble licenced-built Fiat vehicles wen it existed in BRazil but its not so now....after the plant was closed in '71, all the materials/tooling wer taken over by Scooters India who r still said to own the Lambretta brand name. Infact altho for the Indian market they never used tat name on their scooters, SIL did sell 200cc Lambretta GPs to overseas markets all along, until the end of their scooter production in 1997! U can still find new SIL-made 200cc engines for sale on ebay etc.

[nosfreak]

The frist bike i drove ... one hell of a scooter. My uncle owned i dunno which model... freaks my uncle had accident with a bus with that bike ... n .... the bus bumper was bent really bad and only a small dent to teh lamby.

[ac 427]

Dear all,

just would like to know is a lambretta (1984) any good ??? i mean after rebuilding and repainting the same. coz i would be spending some money on the same.

i am planning to buy the same for around 8k. but it is in full working condition i would only have to do a paint job.

anything that i need to know or look at before buying the same. i will be going tomm for the final payment meeting.

cheers.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by ac 427

i am planning to buy the same for around 8k.

Are you nuts? Nostalgia and the perceived 'classic' factor aside there's no reason you should pay anything more than Rs.1,500 or Rs.2,000 for it.

Rs.8,000 would get you a standard herald.

[esteem_lover]

Get a Kinetic Honda with a self start for 5k.

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by ac 427

Dear all,

just would like to know is a lambretta (1984) any good ??? i mean after rebuilding and repainting the same. coz i would be spending some money on the same.

i am planning to buy the same for around 8k. but it is in full working condition i would only have to do a paint job.

anything that i need to know or look at before buying the same. i will be going tomm for the final payment meeting.

cheers.

i guess you are one dude who wants to get noticed.
jokes apart
1984 model rebuilding repainting spend money
then
8k full working only paint
man you seem to be confused and steeroid has summed the rest.

[karlosdeville]

well, if its something ur truly going to cherish and keep, its worth it...if ur gonna sell it, conider it money down the drain...being an 84 lamby, they have no classic value...

at the same time, lambrettas and vespas are being exported out of the country in a very big way, both legally and illegally...so theyre getting very hard to find...ive been desperately searching in vain for an earlier model...

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Rs.8,000 would get you a standard herald.

gimme gimme! honestly!

[Zappo]

I had an API Lambretta long time back. Sold it off sometime in 92. It was purchased in 1975 or so... everything including the headlights were original, imported. Headlight glass had Innocenti, Italy embossed on it. It fetched a meagre 1500 or so... 8000 is unheard of. If you must know, when my dad purchased it in 75 from the showroom it costed him around 5000 bucks!

[manikjeet]

man ma dadu had a lamby a 15 years back but we sold it in 1993 as he wasn't allowed to drive a scooter any longer we sold it for 3 k and it was in showroom condition but 8 k is just to much man you can get a car for 8ks

[ac 427]

thanks for the reply guys. After haggling about with the owner (who happens to be a parsi) he has settled for 5k.

i have taken stock of things i will have to get done
- some tin work (a few dents here and there)
- handle bar has some play. have to get that corrected.
- carb is absolutely fine
- engine is purring beautifully
- the stephny (dont know how to pronounce it) rim has to be changed
- new rubber mats
- new side mirrors
- and a two tone paint job.

all in all around 10k total cost. wht do you all reckon ?? go ahead or dump it.

p.s : my mechanic did inform that i wil get lambs for 3-4 but none in this condition.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

i guess you are one dude who wants to get noticed.
.

well i love to have my share of attention and keepin the attention factor aside i think they are damn cool. . . aint they ????

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by 2fast4u

i guess you are one dude who wants to get noticed.
.

well i love to have my share of attention and keepin the attention factor aside i think they are damn cool. . . aint they ????
but i have not yet paid they guy am waiting to hear from all of you.

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by ac 427

well i love to have my share of attention and keepin the attention factor aside i think they are damn cool. . . aint they ????

theyve got good torque as good as a RE bullet. we had one sardar "bitta" in college days 1988 who had this lamby really loooong bike with the stepney fitted near to horizontal and then 5 of us including sardar bhai would go for a ride down the college roads. the FE was around 30.

still not worth 8000 but if ur heart rules the mind take it. to each his own.

its worth enjoying to have a ride that you love to ride.