1966 lambretta sx 150
La Dolce Dundee: Spirit, Style, & Italian Spirit
What could be more Italian than exploring the narrow streets of Rome from the seat of a scooter? What began as a practical solution to post-war hardship soon evolved into a powerful symbol of Italian culture, representing style, freedom, and everyday life more vividly than any other form of transport.
Dates
1931 –Societa Anonima Innocent (Innocenti SA) tubing company founded in Milan
1947 – Lambretta Model A released
1949 - Lambretta Model B and C developed
1951 – Lambretta Model D introduced
1954- Lambretta De Luxe model introduced
1958 - Series 1 Li launched
1959 - Series 1 ceases production
1959 – Series 2 launched
1961 - Series 2 ceases production
1962 – Series 3 launched
1966 – SX range introduced
1969 – GP/Dl launched
1971 – Innocenti scooter production ends
1970s – 1990s – Production of Lambrettas continue in India by Scooters India Ltd
1990s – 2000s – Lambretta license purchased by several companies
2017 – Lambretta GmbH re-introduce the modern Lambretta
origins
Like the early Fiats and the iconic Isetta in our exhibition, Lambretta emerged in post-war Italy. During the war, much of Italy’s infrastructure was destroyed and its economy was devastated. Cars were too expensive for most Italians. Enter another entrepreneurial Italian industrialist who identified a gap in the market and was uniquely positioned to fill it.
Ferdinando Innocenti (1891 – 1966) founded Innocenti S.A. in 1931 in Rome with his brother. Innocenti specialised in steel tubes, scaffolding, and industrial components. By the late 1930s, Innocenti had become one of Italy’s leading steel-tubing manufacturers and was awarded important and lucrative contracts by the Ministry of War during WWII. Innocenti’s factories accounted for 17% of Italy’s total wartime production.
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After the war, Innocenti needed to diversify. Construction was slow to restart in a devastated economy and there was little demand for industrial tubing. What there was incredible demand for was cheap personal transportation. Innocenti recognised an untapped market that could help restart his business and utilised mass production techniques and machinery he already possessed. Unlike Vespas, Lambrettas use a tubular steel frame rather than a pressed steel monocoque body. The tubular frame meant that Innocenti could restart production quickly. The first Lambretta Model A scooters rolled off the production line in 1947.