LAMBRETTA

12 entries

The Milan scooter that rivalled the Vespa, named after the river that ran past its factory.

Made by: Innocenti, Lambrate, Milan
Name from: The Lambro river and the Lambrate district
Licensed in: France, Germany, Spain, India, Brazil
Models: LI 150, TV 175, SX 200, GP 200

Ferdinando Innocenti built a steel-tubing factory in Rome in 1922 and moved to Milan in 1931, where a larger plant employed about 6,000 people until it was heavily bombed in the Second World War. After the war the firm turned to scooters, and the name Lambretta comes from Lambrate, the Milan suburb named after the river Lambro, where the factory stood.

Lambretta was famous for models such as the LI 125 and LI 150, the TV 175 and TV 200, and the SX and GP series. Scooters were also built under licence by Fenwick in France, NSU in Germany, Serveta in Spain, API in India, Yulon in Taiwan, Pasco in Brazil, Auteco in Colombia and Siambretta in Argentina. In 1972 the Indian government bought the Milan machinery and set up Scooters India Limited.

1922Innocenti builds a steel-tubing factory in Rome
1931Production moves to Milan
1940sFactory destroyed by bombing; scooters follow after the war
1972Machinery sold to India; Scooters India Limited founded