Feature Scooter: Serious S1 street-cred
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when inspiringmoderntwistsareappliedtoaclassicdesign something spectacular is always going to evolve…
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but when inspiring modern twists are applied to a classic design something spectacular is always going to evolve…
For some reason, I get the impression that no matter how ground-breaking the Lambretta Series 1 was, it' s quite often viewed as being slow and cumbersome. In general, the source of these issues seems to be its shape, combined with lack of performance compared with later scooters, its fixed headlight and flared front mudguard. But if these issues, using modern-day technology, knowledge and an open mind, could be tackled then surely, the potential for development of the Series 1 could be significantly advanced? In partnership with Cl audio Cat taneo of Custom Lam brett a, Italy, that' s exactly what Gary Sangster sought to achieve.
Making the grade
During the 60s Gary's father owned several scooters, and throughout his childhood Gary was surrounded by them .“My dad' s favourite scooters were his Series 3 TV 175 and Series 2 Li 150. I always remember him doing his own repair sand maintenance in our garage, and from being a kid I became interested .” A few years later, as the time approached for Gary to take his GCSEs, his dad offered him a cash incentive for good exam results. “I knew that if I could get some good grades I would be able to start to save up for a deposit to buy my first scooter; aL am brett a .” One day, shortly after achieving some pretty good exam results, Gary returned home from an afternoon out with his pals. “When my dad saw me he said with a smile on his face, ‘Come here, and have a look at this ...' And with a degree of excitement I walked round to the car port… and there it was: aV es pa PK 50! I was absolutely mortified!
“I held my tongue and having seen the scooter I politely said ,‘ Cheers Dad, thank you so much .' The PK50 was definitely not on my wish-list of scooters; also the back brake was seized, aside panel was missing and the electrics were shot to bits .” The scooter was going to need some work.
I’m now having to dodge the emails and phone calls from the Aston Martin, Porsche and BMW dealerships who thought I was interested in buying a car when I went to look at the paint samples for the scooter!
However, during the fixes Gary discovered that the scooter had a PX80 engine. “I admit I had my issues with it, but it was faster than all my pals' bikes and it gave me an appetite for performance,” he smiled. After owning the PK for a few years and passing his car test Gary sold the scooter to one of his pals' dads who did vehicle restorations. Having bought a car, scooters took a back seat for a while but Gary's desire to own one never left him. “On a Wednesday evening I regularly used to see the scooters parked outside the Punch Bowl pub on the Cradlewell bypass in Newcastle. They looked fantastic; I had to get another one.”
Good intentions
During the time Gary had seen the scooters he was regularly chatting with a pal who was restoring a Vespa GS. “During one of our conversations I sent him a photo of my dad's TV175. After I'd sent him the photo things seemed to go quiet for a while; I wasn't sure why, but after week or two my mate got back in touch. He explained that because the photo I'd sent him had the registration number of my dad's scooter on it, he'd tried to track it down using scooter social media sites and forums in the hope that he might be able to reunite it with me or my dad.” Despite Gary's mate's best efforts the TV was never located but the event inspired him. “I knew a TV175 was out of my budget and in 2017 I bought a Lambretta Li125 Special, which was the closest in appearance I could get to a TV175. I then developed it into an SX200 replica which was the scooter my dad always wanted.” Over the next couple of years Gary bought and sold several scooters. “The scooters I'd owned were fairly standard and didn't have much performance; I wanted something with more power.” With this in mind in 2018 Gary bought a 1962 Li125 with a 186 kit. “It was a great scooter, but after riding it for a while I still wanted more power.”
SSeriesi 1
In early 2019 while scrolling through scooter social media sites Gary discovered Claudio Cattaneo's Custom Lambretta Garage, Italy. “I saw a fantastic Series 2 street racer Claudio was selling, it reminded me of my dad's Series 2, but it had better looks and loads more power! I had to have it, we did a deal and I bought the scooter.” After owning the Series 2 for a while Gary couldn't get away from the fact that ever since he'd been involved with scooters he'd always wanted a Series 1. “My dad never owned one but I'd always loved the shape and style, and while I'd been looking through Claudio's posts I'd seen a Series 1 he was developing for a fella in Ohio; it looked amazing! I contacted Claudio and asked him if he could build something similar to my specifications. Claudio said, ‘For me, itit'ss not a problem.' Hearing this, Gary's ideas ab out how he wanted the scooter to look and perfo orm started to come in thick and fast. Withi in the development of the project he wanted a few ‘trick' one-off custom features. Among these were a Daytona Velona speedo and an electronic cylinder head temperature gauge and a rev counter mounted in an LD ‘butty-box' behind the legshields. In terms of performance, Gary asked Claudio if he could build the engine with a Quattrini 210 kit and five-speed gearbox. Again Claudio said, ‘For me, it t's not a problem.'
Painting P by numbers
WWith regards to the paint Gary wanted a vintageclassic custom look, with a modern-day twist. “I wanted traditional tones, which would complement each other and with this in mind I looked at all sorts of colours and combinations. Finally after looking through some Aston Martin, Porsche and BMW colour samples I went for Porsche Crayon Grey with BMW purple silk and Mooonwalk Grey pin-striping.” Over the course of thee build Claudio kept Gary up to date with regular photos from his workshop. “Seeing it developing iin front of my eyes was amazing and having waited for what seemed like a lifetime, in early December 2019 it was finally shipped over.”
The scooter is simply jaw-dropping, the custom features, the looks and performance are off the scale; and with all that said, I had to ask Gary one thing. “On reflection, do you think that if it wasn't for your dad buying you that PK50/80, which gave you an appetite for performance; would this scooter ever have come to fruition?” He laughed and said: “Possibly not; but one thing is for certain. I'm now having to dodge the emails and phone calls from the Aston Martin, Porsche and BMW dealerships who thought I was interested in buying a car when I went to look at the paint samples for the scooter!”
Words: Stu Smith
Main photos: Gary Chapman
Build photos: Claudio Cattaneo