Lucky Strike LD
In his four decades of association with the UK scooter scene, like most scooterist Rod Sammons has experieced highs and lows in terms of luck.
In recent times, Lady Luck has been positively beaming down on Rod Sammons, and specifically so in the sphere of scooters. Firstly, he was on the lookout for a decent smallframe Vespa to run around on locally. Rod ended up buying a 1977 V50, with less than 10 miles on the clock. While his ’77 Vespa 50 was indeed something very (err) special, after being discovered, it passed through several hands on its way into Rod’s ownership. “Ever since I first got into scooters in the early Eighties, I’d hankered after finding a scooter tucked away, local to me, in a shed or garage. Getting my Vespa 50 reawakened that desire, and I started trawling through local sales online. All that came up of any interest was an advert with little in the way of real information, offering a Fifties Lambretta in need of restoration. I convinced myself it was likely to be a money pit, so I didn’t make any enquiries on the advert.”
Luck be a lady...
A short while after deciding not to make enquiries about the advert he’d seen,
Rod took a ride on his Vespa 50 to his local convenience shop. It was during the period last year after the spring lockdown when restrictions had been lifted. As he was parking up, a lady came out of the shop and noticed Rod alighting from his Vespa. The lady approached him and said: “I see you ride a scooter, my husband and I have an old Lambretta, we’ve had it checked over, everything works, it’s been registered as a historic vehicle, would you be interested, or know someone who would be?” It transpired the Lambretta was located a village (or two) away from where Rod lives. He noted down the address and phone number, arranged to have a look – it turned out it was the very same scooter he’d previously opted not to pursue! “I got there and the fella opened the garage, wheeled out an old LD… it fired up first kick. It was a bit grubby, but that apart, it was in decent condition. We did the deal there and then. I’d ‘found’, with a huge slice of luck, an old Lambretta, fulfilling an ambition of mine.”