A 25-year journey
A Lambretta in need of serious restoration work
Working as a local press photographer for more than 32 years, I must say there have been some very special events and moments in time that I've covered and will never forget: a riot at Lincoln prison; attending the crash site of a Harrier jet; and photographing the Queen at RAF Cranwell. But I still put spotting a red and white Series 1 Lambretta parked up beside a gateway in a yard at
Wilsford, Lincolnshire, after I'd covered a local duck race in the village beck, as one of my moments in time that I'll never forget.
I remember a dark-haired man was up a ladder painting his house window frames. I parked my car and walked across to him and enquired about the Lambretta and whether it was for sale. A well-spoken man by the name of John King came down the ladder and began to chat with me, explaining how he'd owned the 1959 Lambretta from new and although it looked pretty good (despite being hand painted) he mentioned it hadn't run for a number of years after he broke the kick-start. Still talking, we looked over the scooter and talked of scootering and how we had enjoyed times riding across the country on two wheels.
CALL OF THE WILD
Jump forward 29 years and I now own that Lambretta, thanks to this quiet old gentleman that cherished his Series 1 Lambretta and told me stories of being a scooterist between the late 1950s through to 1968. Over the years, whenever I was working near Wilsford and had a bit of spare time, I would call in on John and have a natter, always asking if he was ready to pass the scooter on?
He was well and truly attached to the scooter – like we all are if we share a passion for Lambrettas. At one point, he gave me a photograph of himself standing in the snow beside his scooter not long after he'd bought it. The picture had been taken in the trees beside a lake on his land; the scooter was adorned with a Lysett luggage bag and spare wheel cover that was in place ready for a journey somewhere.
He never really said how much he wanted for the scooter, but would always
say: “Richard, don't worry, no matter what happens, I will contact you and give you first refusal on it – if I can ever let it go”… while he had a giant smile on his face. At one point, when visiting my parents, I nipped to see him with a large amount of cash and a van. We walked and talked about anything and everything but the scooter.
John was a little bit of an eccentric; after he sold his house, he lived in a caravan on his land (the house had been sold on a separate plot). One day I called in and his arm was covered in wasps; being concerned, I said: “Be careful, you will get stung – and why have you got honey on your forearm?” His reply was: “I have a cut and it helps it heal – the wasps won't sting me; they like honey.”
COMING HOME
Over the last few years John still seemed happy, but was living in the caravan in all weathers. His Lambretta was just outside covered with a carpet, with its condition gradually getting worse. Asking the question again, he said he would call me when I could collect the scooter. Then, to my shock, late in 2019, my uncle (an old school friend of John's) told me he had passed away.
Luckily, his sister understood that John wanted me to have the Lambretta and she told my uncle how much it was and, if I was interested in it, could I collect it? By this time the scooter was in a very poor state – but as it was purchased by John from King's of Sleaford, the motorcycle shop, located on Boston Road in my hometown, I felt I owed it to him to restore it to its former glory.
The Lambretta was sporting its original Kesteven registration of OTL 245, and although John never located the original logbook, he promised he had three original tax discs in the holder on the scooter and a receipt for purchase from King's of Sleaford back in 1959.
I had registered Lambrettas before, but keeping an original number plate was a slightly different process – a V765 document from the DVLA is required, plus a dating certificate and images of the scooter and the frame/engine numbers all needed authentication by an approved vintage vehicle club. I'm a member of the LCGB, so I contacted them to provide the authentication of the documents. Something else that is needed (due to not having the original
logbook) were any documents or records that might be stored in the county archives (in this case, the Lincolnshire Archives in Lincoln).
A copy of the original list of registered vehicles with the registrations starting ‘OTL' with numbers from 240-250 showed that King's of Sleaford had registered a number of vehicles in 1959 on the same day. There was also a transfer document from the 1970s confirming the vehicle's details from the old logbook system. Not all county archives still store these types of documents, but I guess I was lucky, as it helped my case to keep the original number plate registration. Receiving the new V5 in my name for OTL 245 was a joy and now the hard work was to begin.
AND SO IT BEGINS
Finally the work could begin. Stripping the machine after all its time in the woods under cover was a task on its own. The engine bolt was solid in the cones and the rear footboards had just evaporated into the surrounding earth. The side panels still had their original trim and although the panel handles were complete, the panels were rotten along the bottom edge and needed some care to repair if they were to be kept. So I paid a visit to my trusty friend, Webbo, to do the necessary welding. I must say, repairing these damaged panels went really well and he saved them from the bin.
The prep work on the panels and frame is by far the most important part of the restoration, to lay a good foundation for the Lambretta to last another 60+ years. All the standing in the woods in all weathers had really taken its toll on the scooter. So after the main frame and loop had been shotblasted, it was back to Webbo again for new footboard strut supports and a major repair on the frame tube (behind where the bridgepiece is located) to replace the rotten steel.
Next job in the restoration process was to work out what the original colours had been; in the end, I decided on a similar-looking metallic paint that I could use to make it my own. My friend Phil was going to paint the scooter for me and he tested the Red Candy paint on the headset top first (over a Silver basecoat) to make sure it was right. The Dawn Grey paint originally used on the back of the toolbox door was going to be done in a Silver Grey by Dan at Scunthorpe Powder Coating who will be powder coating the other scooter parts, including the legshields, mudguard, footboards, rear light, bridge-piece, etc. This will then be lacquered to match up with the paintwork.
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
This first part of the story covers the history and pre-preparation work on the scooter. Part 2 will incorporate the paintwork and rebuild of the scooter and choice of engine upgrade parts.