The "Lambretta" that ran around the world in 1960

A Symbol of Industrialized Italy

1947: a well-conceived radio commercial started an incessant advertising campaign aimed at stirring the audience's curiosity about an Innocenti motorbike which was yet to go into production. In effect, it was not until 1947 that it went into production - albeit designed in 1945 - because the Innocenti works were commandeered by the Allied troups for a while. When the "Lambretta" first came onto the market, however, it failed to achieve the hoped-for huge commercial success: due to its very reduced size, it was somehow regarded as Mickey Mouse. The tubular pressed steel-type frame is 1,620 mm in length, 650 mm in width, and just 800 mm in height. The pitch is 1,220 mm, while the minimum turning circle is 3,000 mm. The "Lambretta" 125 m (A) was build in two models. The defining features of the second version were, among others, a triangular - and not square - saddle, and an electric horn instead of a mechanically-operated road warning device.

A special record-breaking version of the "Lambretta"

Note

• The "Lambretta" was named in honour of the Lambro River flowing across the neighbourhood of Milano-Lambrate - where the Innocenti works were sited.
• In 1948 the "Lambretta" 125 m - the m being an abbreviation for "motor-scooter" -, later on known as "A", was replaced by the new 125 B version.
• It cost 156,000 lire