The cutdown: a good or a bad thing?
Once, the cutdown was fashionable, but did the trend needlessly destroy thousands of Scooters?
Back in the 80s there was an increasing culture of taking a hacksaw to the Lambretta and Vespa bodywork. Mostly this was done by means of trimming the legshields, cutting the rear of the frame off and in more severe cases all of the fixing struts. Though this type of conversion had started a decade before, at the height of the rally scene thousands of machines had been subject to its ideology. Soon the ‘cutdown’ look as it became known was as popular as any other type of customisation.
With a Lambretta changing hands for around £100, and perhaps a bit more for the 200cc models, did it really matter what you did with it? There were plenty of scooters to go around so if you became bored or fancied something different it was pretty easy to change. With supply easily able to cope with demand, Vespa and Lambretta scooters were a disposable commodity and a cheap one at that. The cutdown culture gained momentum and if you wanted to be part of it then you joined in regardless of what model you had. Even if it was a GS150 or an SX200… it didn’t matter! Carving them up was fine, as there were plenty more scooters to go around.
By the end of the decade the fashion had died down somewhat but that didn’t mean it was all over. If anything things had moved on as more elaborate creations started to appear in the form of advanced customising. Scooters began to take on a more engineered appearance as the street racer look took over. Though the modifications were not as drastic it still meant the frames and panels were subject to alterations and cutting. The scooter scene constantly evolves, and slowly the idea of returning the Lambretta back to its former glory came to the forefront. This was the 1990s and the thought of letting a hacksaw anywhere near a frame was seen as a cardinal sin. Now the race was on to return these butchered frames back to how they originally were.
By 2000 the price of the scooters, and especially Lambrettas started to rise considerably. Popularity was becoming stronger and stronger as the Lambretta became fashionable in the mainstream. It had been 30+ years since the last one had rolled off the production line and demand was now outstripping supply by a significant margin. With prices escalating at an alarming rate, scooters were seen by some as an investment. As good examples became harder to come by, why would anyone want to destroy their value? Perhaps that’s the reason why owners stopped making any modifications to frames – not because they didn’t want to, but because it would reduce the scooter’s saleable value at a later date.
So was this the end of a Lambretta fashion? Well, perhaps not. Though an Italian Lambretta was only increasing in value, a massive influx of second-hand GP models from India were there to be had for a bargain price. Soon enough those that wanted to alter the frame could do so by using one of these instead. Having spent most of their years being abused on the rough terrain their poor condition meant they were ideal for the purpose anyway. As long as there is someone following a trend then it can continue and this is the case here.
Fast forward to the present day and the ‘cutdown’ still exists and so too does extreme frame modification. It’s embedded in scooter culture, not just with the Lambretta but also the Vespa. The term ‘cutdown’ even has its own page on Wikipedia and refers to scooters being responsible for it. Many of us are guilty of attacking a frame with cutting tools at one time or another, I myself being one of them on more than one occasion. Is it wrong to do so though? I don’t think so.
If you go right back the Lambretta has always been the subject to modification, one way or another. Many drilled holes in the leg shields to mount lights back in the 1960s. Though this wasn’t altering the frame, it was altering the bodywork. Though that’s easier to repair or replace both are part of the same thing. Just think of all the amazing custom scooters that have been built over the years. Most of them have had frame modifications one way or another. The scooter scene would have been far more boring if they had all been left standard. Even classic ‘cutdowns’ from their golden era are being restored to how they were when they were created. Surely that tells you that it was all worthwhile doing.
I’m sure anyone thinking of radical frame alterations thinks carefully how they go about it. The rarest models and original unrestored examples should remain as they are but there are damaged frames and the Indian option if you want to go down this route. At the end of the day, it’s the owner’s choice what they do with their Lambretta. Whatever happens in the future, the ‘cutdown’ or modified look will play a part in the Lambretta and scooter scene as a whole. Though it will not be as prevalent as it was in its heyday it will still continue. Just like any other type of Lambretta customisation, it deserves the right to be here and thankfully so.