Lambretta
The story of this legendary scooter actually began in 1922, when Ferdinando Innocenti moved to Rome from his native Pescia for the purpose of building a factory. The product of this enterprising industrialist was steel tubing, and such ingenuity was involved that Innocenti's wares became renowned throughout Europe.
In 1931, Ferdinando moved to Milan, which had become the industrial centre of Italy, and a new and much larger factory was built. Mr. Innocenti developed a seamless steel tube for industry, and 6000 people were employed in this plant.
Then came World War II, and the factory was reduced to a smouldering pile of rubble. When Ferdinando viewed his war damaged homeland in 1946, he saw the roads torn up, cities levelled, and the populace left with little means of transportation. Like Mr. Piaggio, he reasoned that the answer to the transportation problem, was the motorscooter - a vehicle that would feature a low production cost, be inexpensive to operate, and would offer better weather protection than a motorcycle.
The production of motorscooters began in 1947, after one year had been spent in developing and testing the prototype model. The production of Lambrettas in Italy by the Innocenti factory was officially halted in April 1971.
As well as the obvious Italy, Lambrettas have been made around the world, from their birth place in Italy to other countries such as Spain, India, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and more. Although some producers did market the Lambretta under differing names, such as the Serveta from Spain, the Siambretta from South America, they all share the family design that came originally from Italy. Of course as independent producers carried on their production, some changes were made.
Lambretta is also a pop band. See Lambretta (band).
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