Uncovered: 1956 Lambretta 150 D
This is a 1956 Lambretta 150 D scooter and it’s in Waynesville, Ohio. It’s listed on eBay with a bid price of just over $1,500 and the reserve isn’t met. There are six days left on the auction, for you collectors of rare and unusual two-wheelers. And, I know that you’re out there.
The 150 D was an upgrade from the previous 125 D giving a much-needed boost, especially when carrying a passenger. These bikes almost look unfinished to me, I’m so used to seeing the classic, streamlined Lambretta scooters, the ones that most of us probably relate back to Lambretta. In fact, they made two versions, the stripped-down version, the D, and they also made the more classic Lambretta 150 LD which had the aerodynamic cowling over the “guts”, hiding all of the working bits and pieces.
There may be a reason that these look so unusual, they made just over 54,000 of these “economic” D models (1954-1956) compared to almost 220,000 of the “luxurious” LD covered Lambrettas (1954-1957), so they are a bit more unusual to see. I’ve never seen one in person. This one is supposedly all original, but the paint on the tank and engine cover sure looks new’ish to me? The seat sure looks original, right down to the rips. But, a NOS seat comes with it, and apparently the tires and tubes are also NOS.
As we all know, these bikes aren’t for folks who are afraid to have fun riding what they dang well like to ride, no matter what anyone else thinks. I see an older gentleman riding his classic scooter down our street every day and he probably has bigger bikes if he wanted to ride those, and most likely even classic cars. These small bikes are great for bopping around at big car shows or flea markets and things like that. I would not be afraid to ride this thing in public and I’m 6′-5″ tall so I’d probably look ridiculous, but I don’t care! Of course, they weren’t made for freeway or cross-country duties, they never were. This is a 148 cc, single-cylinder, air-cooled engine with 6 hp. The 150 D model weighs about what I do, 165 pounds, so they aren’t heavy. The LD models added 30 pounds in weight for the covers. I really like these unusual, old machines. Are you someone who would proudly ride something like this, or would you not want to be seen on anything smaller than a V-Twin?
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Comments
It was affordable because it was a cobbled up, pieces parts offering. My 69 Rabbit scooter is leap years beyond this Frankenscooter. I guess they rode what they could afford. Get it running right and head up to WalMart*.
’69 Fuji Rabbit?! Nice!
When I lived in Rome in the ’70’s, someone once explained the design of these scooters, also the Piaggio better known as Vespa. The seat and floor was designed so that a female wearing a dress could drive it. The shifter was in the handle so that Italian men didn’t mess up their expensive Gucci loafers on a pedal.
They say there’s 2 things you should do at night, one is ride a scooter, and the other, well, let’s say looks better at closing time. This is pretty cool, although I’d have no use for it. For me, 2 wheels means GO, not plod along in the bicycle lane. Funny how this has more lug nuts than most cars of the time. Shaft drive too. Buyer must provide own clown outfit.
No offense Howard, but that’s just silly. It’s like saying, ‘for me, eating means pizza’. There’s all kinds of flavors of motorcycles, just as there is of dinner.
A few years ago, summer of 2013, I flew from here in Oregon back to Ohio to attend Vintage Motorcycle Days,and to pick up a scooter that I’d bought from a friend of mine who lives there. It’s a hard-to-find model and he had a nice one for sale, so what the heck. After the meet,I packed up that little (250cc) scooter with all my crap and headed west. Had a terrific time – traveled mostly on the old US highways at 55 or so, and saw lots of stuff that you don’t see hurtling down the Interstates at 75+. One of the most memorable rides ever, even chugging up the mountain passes at 45.
Did I have faster and more powerful bikes at home? Yup, and still do – an embarrassing number of them, in fact. Did I wish I was riding one of them? Nope, I had a hoot on the scooter. Did I care what people would think of my masculinity? Not a whit. Variety – it’s the spice of life, baby. No clown outfit needed.
As I recall, the Model D with the 150 engine wasn’t something that you’d find in the bike lane, with a 55 MPH top speed. These were excellent scoots. They got around 145 MPG, were plenty fast enough for the 2-lane back in the 50’s and were probably at the upper end of the 2-wheel moto world quality-wise – certainly better than anything made in the US at the time. I prefer the open frame model cuz you can see what’s going on without removing body sections. “6 HP” was more than many 4 wheel machines at the time.
I don’t think many 4 wheeled people carriers of the time had less than 6 HP unless limited to all downhill use :)
The 2 CV was “2” HP, the Renault 4 CV was 4, and many microcars of the period weren’t exactly powerhouses either. Granted that they all increased over time, ;-)
This is a common misconception.
The 2cv and 4cv where “Cheval fiscal” or tax horsepower.
The first 2cv with its 375 cc engine got 9 hp
then 425cc with 12hp, still 2 Cheval fiscal.
Then they came with a 602 cc these had between 24 and 33 hp these actually where 3cv.
Used to strip down our ld 15o’s – gt 200’s and used them for dirt bike scrambles mid sixtys in uk
Maybe I have been over-exposed to Urals lately. But can you picture this with a sidecar? Beyond awesome.