HowLambrettas
weremade!
Arare insight into how Innocenti produced the
Lambretta. Not now of course,but back in 1964...
R
ecently Scootering
magazine wascontactedby
Colin Reeves regarding an
article he wrote wa ybackin
- It was for a
publicationknow nas‘Power and Pedal’
andcentre donavisit to the Innocenti
factoryinMilan to see how Lambrettas
were made. Themagazinehad paid for
Colinto be flownover andspendseveral
days atthe f actoryto see how
operationsat th emightyInnocenti
factoryworked o nadaily basis.This
historical article givesarareinsight and
candidview of Lambretta production.
Mighty scale
Reading the article now,and lookingat
thepictureshetook,one thingthat
stands out is thevastnessofthe enti re
operation. Manyreaderswillhave
visited,ifn ot seen imagesoft he now
abandoned Innocenti factory.Its huge
buildingslay idle yearbyyear,decaying
ever more, slowly beingconsumed by
nature. Itseemsalmostimpossibleto
believe whatagreat empireit al lonce
was. The huge pressingmachines
churningout bodywork on an almost
unbelievablescale. Therows ofmilling
machinescuttingout enginecasin gs,
dozensatatime.Finally ,the production
line itselfwith literallyhundredsof
Lambrettasasfar as the eyecould see,
moving along as they await completion.
Colin’sdescriptionof th etestin groom
for th eengines soundsalmo st surreal
forthe time. Each oneonits own test
bed, fedwith fuel andrun for a
30-minuteperiod.They were
individuallymonitored for specific
performanceand poweroutputlevels.
Commentingon thefactthat any engine
whichwasnot up to therequired level
of performance was removedand
re-doneuntil it wascorrect. Perhaps
124 |SCOOTERING|AUGUST2019
