Despite a total ban on all exports of automobiles manufactured before 1960, many many cars and scooters/bikes have gone out of the country. Earlier it used to be the Maharajahs Rolls Royces and other rare cars that were disassembled and moved out in containers and now Lambrettas are the latest target of greedy exporters to fill up their coffers illegally.
Lambrettas have lately become a money spinner and Lambrettas /Vijais of all kinds in whatever condition are being bought by exporters at Delhi at never heard before prices. So agents are collecting these scooters from all nook and corners of the country and the destination is Delhi. From there containers are filled and these poor scooters leave the country to start a new life in Europe where the demand has skyrocketed (3000 to 12000 UK pounds each in good restored condition depending on the model).
The company Innocenti closed down in 1972 and all marketing rights and tools, jigs, designs etc were bought by Scooters India Ltd, Lucknow,(SIL) a government owned PSU.They even bought rights to the trade name "Lambretta" though it was used only on Vijais that were sold abroad.
SIL stopped making scooters altogether in the late 1990's. Already many have been scrapped and are gone.The situation is pretty bad and soon very very few Lambrettas may be left back in India.
I am enclosing some website id's for Lambrettas for viewing:
(1) Wikipedia History of Innocenti makers of the Lambretta.
quote from this website:
QUOTE "The Lambretta scooter is constantly growing in value; their rarity and increased demand means that a standard LI 150 series 3 (known as the standard scooter) in good condition will fetch over £3,000 ($5,950) whereas the rarer models of Lambretta e.g. the TV200 in mint condition has been sold for sums of up to £12,000 ($23,750)."
Lambretta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(2) Lambretta models in UK :
(worth noting is the last picture wherein a Vijai Super is listed as an import from India)
Lambretta Classic Scooters
(3)Lambretta Club of UK
Lambretta Club of Great Britain - Prototypes
(4)The Indian Lambretta guide. So many imports into the UK that there has to be a restoration guide.
The Indian Lambretta Guide
(5)Lambrettas(Vijais) for sale in the UK
Lambrettas for sale
(6)Images of Indian Lambrettas
Indian Lambrettas - Google Search
(7)Lambrettas and Indian made spares for sale on this site
India lambretta, India lambretta manufacturers, India lambretta suppliers and companies on Alibaba.com
(8) So many of them stocked in a godown.
Unrestored Scooters Lambretta Series2 & Lambretta Gp products, buy Unrestored Scooters Lambretta Series2 & Lambretta Gp products from alibaba.com
(9)Importers website in the UK
Lambretta scooters gp 200 refurbished indian - TFM Lambretta Home Page
(10)Another importers website
Second Hand Vintage Vespa And Lambretta Scooters - Second Hand Vintage Vespa And Lambretta Scooters offers from P.ride (25022881)
(11) Lambrettas for sale in India (prices Rs 23000 to Rs 60000)
lambretta - India, Everything Else - India, For Sale
(12) Another UK website listing Indian Lambrettas for sale
Indian Lambrettas For Sale - Yakaz Motorcycles
(13) Lastly a tailpeice:
A friend of mine had a 1968 Lambretta that was running fine with him and he never wished to buy any other scooter till the mid 1990's when this incident took place. He had been to a marriage lawn to attend a marriage reception in Civil Lines, Nagpur, with his Mrs in the month of April. As there was no parking space he had to park his scooter farther away in the dark.
The scooter was stolen to his shock. He lost a very loved and cared for scooter. He lodged a FIR and asked the police as to who steals such scooters that are worth some Rs 1000-Rs 1500 (yes that was the resale value of Lambrettas in the mid 1990's).The policeman replied" These days the sugarcane juice makers seek Lambretta engines as these can be very well run on kerosene.We have got quite a few FIR's for Lambretta thefts" My friend was dumbstruck!