c1956 Lambretta Model D 150cc Scooter

Description

In 1922,Ferdinando Innocenti built a steel-tubing factory in Rome. In 1931, he took the business to Milan where he built a larger factory producing seamless steel tubing. During World War II the factory was destroyed and it is said that surveying the ruins, Innocenti saw the future of cheap, private transport and decided to produce a motor scooter, competing on cost and weather protection against the ubiquitous motorcycle.
Like Vespas of the day, Lambrettas had three or four gears and two-stroke engines with capacities ranging from 49 cc to 198 cc.Unlike the Vespa, which was built with a unibody chassis pressed from sheets of steel, Lambrettas were based around a more rigid tubular frame, Early versions were available in "closed", with fully covered mechanicals or "open", with minimal panels and thus looking like an unusual motorcycle. The model A and model B were only available in "open" style. The D models were noted for their torsion-bar rear suspension; at its peak, the D model outsold all other two-wheeled vehicles combined. The Model 'D' started life in December of 1951,first introduced as a 125cc version. The 'D' was basically an update of the earlier 'C' with a number of improvements being made. The looks and frame work of the D pretty much stayed the same as the earlier C model, tubular in design, with the same layout for the fuel tank and rear tool box. The engine was a new design, it still had a cast iron cylinder and an air cooled aluminium cylinder head. As western Europe's wealth increased in the 60s,the motor scooter market fell away as the small car became more popular and Lambretta struggled ,as did parent company Innocenti. Innocenti/Lambretta was eventually sold to British Leyland Motor Corporation, with sales declining sharply both Innocenti and Lambretta closed in 1972.