Modern Vespa

I guess I could begin by saying Hello. This would be my first return after over a ten year hiatus from scooters. When my daughter was born I began selling off my collection of lambrettas. I am slowly getting back into it with a cutdown project but really interested in lambrettas. If there are any old timers out there and you know me you know exactly what I am talking about. I am shocked by the price of lambrettas in the last ten years.

Lambrettas are fun but not fun enough to cover the price gap.

They've gone kind of nuts. Your best bet is a solid Serveta, as I'm sure you know.

I know what you mean....the prices are crazy. I just purchased a 58 series 1. Needed an engine rebuild and so forth. I have more in one lambretta than I do in any of my vespas. Oh well what are you going to do. Not getting any younger.
I will say the lambrettas are really well built when comparing to the vespas, as I'm sure you know. I like them both. Each has its own thing. Prices seem to be much higher in california. I live not too far from you.

wishing I would have kept at least one of them

Yeah I'm too young to have owned one cheap, having gotten into scooters only recently at 39, and currently would love one but they are out of reach financially for me. So I'll keep dreaming.

The problem is not just the purchase price but parts prices are murder too.

Look, I LOVE Lambrettas and back in the 80's and 90's had a few of them. They are things of beauty and to me always looked "cooler" than Vespas. The thing is reliability yeah not so much and as we used to say "be a man, push a Lam". MY 79 P200e was ALWAYS my go to for rallies and back then there were plenty of rallies during the revival. The Lambrettas were for around town and going to shows and hanging out with mates.

If you have the money, time and space to store I would say buy one. BUT if any of those things are limited I'd have to recommend one go Vespa 100%. More reliable and parts are cheaper. The space factor is if you only have room for one classic scooter better it be a Vespa as you'll be able to ride it more often and parts are generally not a right PITA to get a hold of. Not to mention there is a wealth of knowledge right here at MV. Sure we have Lammie folks willing to help but not nearly as many. modernlambretta.com is a pretty lonely place but hey you could probably buy the domain name cheaper than an actual Lammie...

yea well I'm not that young...and i just got into scooters about a year ago. everything about what has been said about the lambrettas is probably true, but the cool factor is times 10. Like I said...at my age not getting any younger. Some of use just have to bite the bullet. Vespas are cool as well. I do enjoy having both.

A Lambretta can be just as, if not more reliable than a Vespa. It all depends upon how the build is done. A tuned Lambretta should actually be more reliable than any tuned Vespa since the whole drivetrain is WAY stronger by design. It will cost a bit more to tune a Lammy, but it all depends upon just how far you want to go with it. The problem is that there are just too many super trick (expensive) parts that are available for them that might not really be needed...trick disc brakes, dampers, clutches, case covers, cases, exhausts, cylinder kits, long range fuel tanks, $10k crate engines, rear brake hubs, 5 speeds, ignitions, flywheel covers, ect. Pretty much anything Rimini. If you don't go overboard with all of that stuff, you can save quite a bit of money. If you can't hold back then you'll easily be spending over $8k on just the engine, brakes, and suspension. It's not too hard to get a Lammy to go over 100mph anymore. No idea what it would take to get a PX that fast (and 100mph on a dyno doesn't count), and how many times it could do that before the transmission would self destruct.

Well then sir in your case... I say go for it and all the power to you! Lammies are fun scoots and like I said beautiful . Life is to short to have regrets and on the bright side you could have a passion for old Jaguar V12's or the like. Really wanting a Lambretta is dirt cheap when you look at it that way

You'll have fun with it, Lammies are nice riders for sure.

Ha! Man, I have been where you are four times over ( three girls , one boy). Sold a restored Rally 200, CB500X, 74 Super, a couple of P200s , etr... all over things for the kids. Meanwhile, those are some sweet scoots you built. But you can build them again, it's just gonna cost more.

Roliver, those Lambrettas look pretty sweet!

Second picture down...Are those WCLW Daytona dampers on it? (hard to tell, i really have to squint)...cause them's old school!

I also appreciate the two different T5's that are in the background! I also see a scooter that has a PX98 5 star hub, a standard P front fender, and a T5 horncast.

Yes ...the black lambretta had Daytona dampners..bitubo rear af 225 kit with yamaha rod...wiseco piston....boyseen reeds and 1.5 inch drop on the front fork.....rear set brakes as well...disc front

Lammies have developed a bit of a cult following for sure, and part of that may have to do with the many very-high-end performance upgrades available.

Just keep looking if you want one, though. The good deal can still be had occasionally. I just bought a 1962 TV175 series 3 for $1000. I'm not doing the work myself, but <$500 in parts and labor to get it rideable. There are still people out there who don't know what they have, but you just have to stay on top of Facebook and CL listings.

Ha! I had my eye on that blue lammy with no side cowl. I would have tried to get it if I didn't already have my p200 project in the wing. Just couldn't rationalize jamming another project into my garage and committing to more money on projects purely for fun. Especially a different engine I haven't even touched yet.

Last night I went looking for that listing to post here and saw it was removed. Was slightly upset at my loss but it was never gonna happen right now!

Would love to follow your progress on that here.

yea, the price is nutty
I've seen TV1 or Lammy SX200 or TV200 are in the 10+k. TV2 is like 7-9k. Regular LD, LI150 S2 is ~4.5-5k. Not sure if anyone is buying at this price though.

Roliver....would be nice to catch up with you at some point. I'm in Bakersfield a lot do to family living there. I plan on having my next lambretta engine built there in Bakersfield. Here is a picture of my last purchase. Thanks scott

I put my 1963 Lambretta series 3 for sale for $2500 like 3 years ago and it was what I expected. One person wanted to negotiate the price down before even looking at it (all by e-mail)... the classic: "would you take this amount"? another person contacted me but wouldn't come to see the scooter but will pay for shipping. Then other people interested on trades.

Out of the 3 or 4 people not a single person actually say, let me call you, lets talk because I want to know more about it.

I go to scoot.net and I see people selling trim pieces for crazy money, like hundreds of dollars. I see lots of bills of sales, lots of not running lambrettas.

My lambretta always worked, has always been registered, insured and it runs.

Well after all that drama....what did you do with it? Did you finally sell it? Scott

No, I still have it but I hardly use it. I know the series 3 is a "likeable' model but I want serious people, serious inquiries. When I purchased all my scooters I went and I saw them in person, I asked questions.

it will be available if someone comes and wants it but for now it will continue to get insured, registered with historical plates and buried in the corner of the garage because it is the least used of my scooters.

That actually wasn't the one I bought, though that Special was being sold.by a friend of mine. The one I got is in much, much better condition

I've considered a Lambretta, too, but the prices are pretty crazy. If it's what you really want, though, go for it. Case in point: when I was younger I had the chance to get a Jaguar E, 12 cylinder for $5,000. That seemed incredible at the time, and it needed work, but wow - have you seen the prices for an E lately? I let people talk me out of it, but an E is still one of my all time favorite cars and I often think about it.

I've been a HUGE fan of both for many many years and there are 2 Lammys living my garage currently along side my Vespas. The thing for me is the styling and performance of the Lambretta. The way I like to ride is...let's just say aggressive on twisty roads and the FOR ME the lammy just does it better. Not saying ya can't rail on a Vespa, cause ya can, and I have, it just feels more planted and controlled on the Lammy.

That being said, the prices for vintage scooters, both Vespa and Lambretta, has gotten stupid. I remember the days of buying a solid nice, good running P series for $800. In fact if ya paid more you were considered kinda dumb.

Ok..done rambling.

Serveta is going high too. You're going to have a hard time finding a cheap Jet 200 and premium for original ocher. Mine has been repainted and the only thing I did was a 12V conversion. It is a rock solid scooter and an awesome ride!

in the 80s and 90s i had lambretta because they were cheap to run and parts were cheap too. Then in the 00's i moved to vespa's for the same reason.... now in the 20's they both cost an arm and a leg compared to other cheap mopeds around