Proving the Engineering

The Lambretta is so well conceived that it starts setting world records the year after it is launched. These Italian scooters challenge the French-made light motorcycles that have been dominating the four-speed 125cc class up until now.

In its first experiment to turn two Lambretta As into racing machines, Innocenti reduces the structure of the frame to the bare essentials, replacing the rear section with sections of light tubing. A large fuel tank is placed between the rider's legs in true motorcycle fashion to enable the scooter to cover long distances without stopping to refuel. There is a larger carburettor, the muffler is reduced to a straight tube, and the engine has a higher compression ratio; the engineers also install a dynamic aluminium conveyor to improve engine cooling. At this point the engine is capable of a maximum of just 5,300 RPM, relatively low for a racing motor scooter.

The engineer entrusted with organising the first trial of the racing scooter is Luigino Innocenti, son of the founder. On the morning of 11 February 1949 the Lambretta prepares to set a new world record on the road from Rome to Ostia. Ridden for nine hours at a stretch, it breaks thirteen world records: nine in the four-speed 125cc class, and four in the class up to 175cc.

Despite this remarkable success, head engineer Pier Luigi Torre is still not satisfied, and makes further modifications in an attempt to shave off precious seconds.

The setting of one record immediately calls for a second, so just two months after the Ostia trial Innocenti ships the Lambretta off to the famous Montlhéry motor-racing track in France, hoping to break the records it has just set in Italy — and this time to break the 24-hour marathon scooter race record too. The engineers make further alterations to the body: an aerodynamic box is fitted for the headlamp, and the scooter gets a new carburettor with an adjustable mix to compensate for the difference in temperature between day and night.

Masetti, Brunori and Rizzi are invited to compete; Angonoa is replaced by the rising star Masserini, and Doctor Scotti, the very active manager at Innocenti, also takes part. On 23 and 24 March 1949 the little Lambretta spins around the Montlhéry circuit for 24 hours at a stretch, setting 33 world records. Convinced the scooter will not make it, the French timekeepers have not arranged to have staff on duty at night and have to call in reinforcements from Paris; the only real problem the scooter faces is the continual burnout of the front headlamp, which forces the rider to stop again and again.

Greedy for even more international success, the Lambretta shows up at Montlhéry again on 17 February 1949, less than a month after its debut on foreign soil, this time aiming to break the 48-hour marathon scooter race record. The same riders regroup to challenge the world record on the same Lambretta. A short time before, this scooter was regarded as little more than a toy for getting around the city; now it is preparing to challenge the world.

A dozen of the most internationally accredited motorcycle journalists, and a huge group of leading technicians and engineers, are present to witness the event. The Lambretta zips around in front of their incredulous eyes, lap after lap, for 48 hours at a stretch, without any sign of losing power or slowing down. Having completed the marathon, the young Masserini shows the Lambretta is still performing at its best by taking it for another ten laps at its maximum speed of 110 to 113 km/h. These results convince even the most hardened sceptics of the power of Innocenti's Lambretta; the high-level design and engineering of the engine makes it virtually indestructible, and the stamped metal frame proves equally resilient.

At the end of this highly successful run the Lambretta earns a much-needed break, remaining within the walls of the Innocenti factory for the rest of 1949 while it undergoes further improvements in preparation for more trials.

At the dawn of a new decade Innocenti shows up at the track with a completely streamlined scooter that still allows the rider to manoeuvre, expected to be even faster and hopefully able to beat some of the records set by the French rider Jonghi that the Lambretta failed to break the year before. During trial runs the three riders, Masserini, Masetti and Ambrosini, find it difficult to hold the track when the new fairing meets violent crosswinds on the high-bank turns, and with just two hours to go the trial is called off on account of the weather. The Lambretta has to be content with setting six world records, though the Innocenti technicians are pleased with the improvements made in just a few months.

Piaggio does not fail to notice its rival's outstanding results: in March 1950 it unveils its own covered Vespa on the Montlhéry racetrack, though riders Castiglioni and Spadoni also have to wait until April to complete their time trials because of bad weather. The Vespa's commendable results simply fuel the famous rivalry between Piaggio and Innocenti.

To meet the speed challenge, Innocenti develops a new Lambretta completely encased in a protective fairing: an oval profile that flattens out at the sides, with an ample front windscreen and an extended rear tail to assist steering. The aesthetics may be questionable, but the new fairing proves very effective in numerous time trials.

From 27 September to 5 October 1950 this Lambretta, ridden by Ambrosini, Ferri and Masetti, conquers the Montlhéry racetrack once again, breaking no fewer than 22 world records and completely ruling out any progress the Vespa has made in the meantime.

Having shown the Lambretta's mechanical robustness in endurance races, Innocenti turns its attention to speed in the 125cc category. By this stage the Vespa has already set records, with Mazzoncini reaching an incredible 171 km/h. Head engineer Pier Luigi Torre designs an extremely streamlined fairing inspired by the lines of a fish, with a tail at the rear and air ducts at the front resembling gills; the engine is supercharged with a volumetric compressor that raises power to a good 16hp at 9,000 RPM.

On 14 April Romolo Ferri takes to the road near Terracina on this new and improved racing machine, reaching the fantastic speed of 190 km/h — beating the Vespa by a good 20 km/h — although bad weather affects the final results. Technicians had originally predicted the scooter could easily reach 200 km/h.

At the end of May 1951 the Lambretta returns to Montlhéry for the last time to try to improve on its one-hour speed record, using the same scooter as at Terracina but without the special volumetric compressor. Ferri and Poggi, the two riders entrusted with the task, use their incredible skill to set a new record of 195.8 km/h for one hour.

Any other manufacturer would have been satisfied, but Innocenti is determined to improve further. Just two months after the Montlhéry victory the Innocenti team travels to Monaco to attempt another record, above all hoping to surpass the 200 km/h barrier. For this trial the Lambretta is modified further still, fitted with a new volumetric compressor, and the redesigned fairing gives a drag coefficient of just over 0.09.

After a few runs to get used to the new scooter, Romolo Ferri test-drives it on the highway between Monaco and Ingolstadt on 8 August. After a few warm-up runs he is ready to attempt the 200 km/h barrier, and the Lambretta proves easily up to the task, setting new world records for both the fastest kilometre and the fastest mile. In addition, Ferri sets six other world records, once again showing the high level of technical expertise Innocenti's Centro Studi has reached in motorcycling in the four short years since its debut.

With these formidable results Innocenti decides to call it a day in motor racing. No other manufacturer, not even Piaggio, dared to challenge the speed record set by the super-fast Lambretta, which remains associated with the 125cc speed record even today, having only been relegated to second place many years later.