The 1950s were the heydays of the post-war scooter boom, and we’ve a fantastic trio in edition 1 of ScooterNova for you to enjoy.
The Racer
First up is actually a replica, or rather a homage to an original racing scooter produced by Innocenti in MIlan. To prove the worth of their then new Lambretta scooters, the Innocenti factory produced some racing versions of their scooters to compete against motorcycles. What you see here was inspired by a Model C Racing Lambretta and was created by British scooterist Barry using a 1955 Lambretta Model D, which together with it’s fully-panelled LD sibling was the scooter that carried the Lambretta name around the globe during the 1950s.
The attention to detail on the racer here is amazing, especially when you consider a lot of his project was completed during the Covid lockdown, thus restricting the ability to meet and discus with people the one-off components that needed to be made and gather advice. Not only does it look good but it goes pretty well too!
The Voluptuous One
Next we have the first incarnation of the curvaceous Vespa GS150, the VS1 model. This is one of the first few thousand produced by Piaggio in Italy and was found in Scandinavia by it’s current British owner, who subsequently shipped it the UK and had it restored. Not only what was arguably the first production sports scooter produced for the general public, the VS1 also has features not found on later Vespa GS scooters. A very interesting scooter indeed.
The German Upgrade
The third icon is from Germany, a Lambretta produced there in 1954 under licence by NSU. Based on the Innocenti Lambretta LC125 – which was the first production Lambretta to have full legshields and side panels – the German version is arguably superior to the Italian original, the NSU factory in Neckarsulm making a number of upgrades to the scooter with approval from Innocenti. Even the finish looks more glamorous we reckon. Another scooter that is now ridden on British roads, check out the article in ScooterNova to learn what NSU added to the humble Lambretta to make it more appealing to their German market customers.
So three 1950s motoring icons, all classic scooters and all in edition 31 of ScooterNova magazine. Which one do you prefer?
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