LAMBRETTA AND VESPA STREET RACERS BOOKAZINE
Tuner, member of the exclusive 100mph Lambretta Club, writer and Scootering contributor Stuart Owen’s latest project is a bookazine, the subject matter being Vespa and Lambretta street racer scooters. Which, believe it or not, have been evolving pretty much ever since scooters as we know them have been around.
Stuart’s guide comes in a decade-bydecade overview, packed with an abundance of both archive and more recent images, many of which have not been seen before. There are factory made specialist machines that were commercially made to appeal to the need for (additional) speed. Enhancing the text of each 10-year time span chapter is an abundance of boxed out sections which put a spotlight on some of the more significant contributors to the development of street racers over 60 or so years.
Some aforementioned factory models feature alongside selected dealer specials such as now legendary names like Supertune, Wildcat, Arthur Francis S-Type, AF Rayspeed, and Armandos with other sections focusing on a variety of types of carburation including various Amal types, early fuel injectors, tyre technology, kits, exhaust systems, ignitions, even seats. Informative, well researched, laid out in a chronological manner, it’s a publication that can be read in a mini marathon single sitting or alternatively akin to a coffee table style tome, it also lends itself to dipping in and out and devouring the many insightful morsels at a pace that suits the individual. It’s a fair statement to say that without question, improvements to standard, stock items are of interest to practically every scooterist. A constant factor over the years is that successful performance and handling modifications, approaches and changes were often first proven on specialised scooters in scooter sports events. These were then eventually offered to the road going scooterists who wanted a bit extra in both power and performance from their machine. Of course that particular fact is mentioned and referred to in the Street Racer bookazine.
While I found Stuart’s Street Racer guide deeply interesting and extremely informative, the text enhanced, illustrated and amplified by a vast variety of street racer scooter pictures, which bears out the ‘one picture speaks 1000 words’ adage… to me there are a couple of small omissions. With the title limited to a total of 132 pages, there are some compromises regarding a few things that were worth either a mention or in most cases, something more significant. Noteable by its absence was the Malossi kit, with the 210cc, albeit requiring crankcase mouth transfers modifying, was without question, one of the most significant developments for the large frame Vespa engine. Also omitted are the Teutonic (German/Austrian) Vespa street racers, that had to comply with restrictive TUV laws, yet revolutionised and innovated many changes to Vespa street racers on a worldwide scale. Fresco both over and under kickstart variants as well as Mickek exhausts, I think should have warranted a deeper retrospective overview. Many 80s scooterboys and girls doing the National rallies on their P-Range Vespas throughout the 1980s, despite the vast majority being on a tight budget, favoured a combination of 28mm Dellorto and Simonini exhaust. Which was a very basic Vespa street racer, but a street racer nonetheless. I would have liked to have seen a few more dealer specials from over the years included too, PJ Oakley Lambretta and Grimstead Hurricane Vespa. Perhaps am I being a little bit too picky? However, if this was a full-size book, such as Stuart’s excellent Lambretta Concessionaires, available space would almost definitely be there for filling, and perhaps a few more brand names linked to street racers that could be looked at a bit more in depth.
Stuart’s Street Racer bookazine is available via all good newsagents and magazine outlets, as well as online. Despite the previously mentioned, it is a worthwhile, informative and damn good read. Order online: www.classicmagazines. co.uk or 01507 529529.