It's no secret that Mods did not come up with the idea of putting loads of accessories on their scooters. Scooterists in the fifties had a wide variety of aftermarket products to choose from. In my humble opinion, some of the best-looking chrome goodies were made for Series 1 and 2 Lambretta scooters. But there's no denying the fact that Mods took the whole accessorizing craze to an entirely different level. Their contribution to scoot culture has been so influential that today, when you see a vintage Vespa covered with shinny chrome parts, you automatically assume (rightfully or not) that you are dealing with a dedicated Mod.
In pure Mod tradition, I have started looking for those sought after accessories for my recently acquired Lambretta TV175 Series 3. I might have my priorities wrong, maybe I should be ordering essential parts for the scooter like cables, gaskets and rubbers. Plus shopping for bearings is boring . Searching for a rare pair of authentic NOS Jag lights is infinitely more exciting.
I have scored a few desirable items on eBay that I'm looking forward to install on the Lambretta. Since I'm leaning more and more towards repainting the scooter in the original factory light metallic blue, all my accessories will most probably have blue accents. My first purchase was a nearly pristine sixties mud flap with the classic road signs on them. Can't get more Mod than that!
I also put my hands on chrome side panel embellishers. Usually made for the Series 2 Lambretta, I have also seen them on Series 3 panels. I don't have any information on the company who manufactured them but I have no doubt they are the real deal.
To help me in the inspiration department, I have recently added a 1966 accessory brochure from the Nannucci Company to my collection.
Nannucci was based in the UK and aside from an ad that I saw in a 1960 scooter magazine, I knew nothing about the company. They distributed your typical line of bumpers, crash bars and seemed renowned for their seats for both the Lambretta and the Vespa.
Scooter & Three Wheeler - May 1960
Scooter & Three Wheeler - June 1963
So for all you rare accessory fanatics out there in search of that perfect authentic touch, here are the scans of the brochure in question.
If you know more about Nannucci accessories and want to share your knowledge or you simply want to brag about the fact that you found an ultra rare Vespa Ulma Cadillac legshield embellisher in an old box of parts that was about to be thrown in the dump, go ahead and do so in the comment section. Tell us about you favorite chrome bit or about the one that got away. Happy hunting!
Posts
my gf's dad says without the sidepanels on w/ a 3 in 1 backrest was his mod way to go.
ReplyDeleteWhatever you do, please don't punch holes in that leg shield for crash bars ;)
I think these guys sell vintage accessories
http://www.allstyles-lambretta-vespa.com/acatalog/Retro.html
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you get Scootering magazine from England, if not it's filled with valuable information every month. A month or so back they had a barn find from the 50's. The scooter even had a chrome dragon fly with green rubber wings on the front! The magazine is top notch covering everything from repairs, rare parts, events, music and adventures past and present contributed by scooterists. Sadly our North American version Scoot magazine seems to be more concerned with flaming Tiki idols and bowling trophy ephemera. Lol I personaly don't care for a bunch of stuff bolted on a scooter that looks great to start with. (Everyone has there own taste.) My tastes runs the same way with clothes. The clothes should speak for themselves without over doing it with logos. This is off the subject but I kind of laugh when you see a Mercedes drive by and the driver has added on several extra Mercedes logos, just in case you didn't realize that it's a Mercedes??? Lastly on my rant. Lol I don't care for murals and gold plate all over a scooter. I think it looks ghetto. Maybe the English version of Mexican lowriders??? To each there own, just thought I'd put it out there!
I suppose you could call us the Nannucci Limited of the modern world - take a look if you want to bling up your scoot at an affordable price !!
ReplyDeletePlease leave us a link so we can have a look.
ReplyDeletewww.royale-enamel.com
ReplyDeletePatrick
ReplyDeleteNanucci made some of the most desirable accessories and they are even more desirable and rare today. A Nanucci toolbox or 3 in 1 carrier/backrest like those listed in your brochure will cost small fortune in today's market.
Along with Nanucci manufacturers such as Super, Ulma, Falbo, Fabbri, Ardor and Vigano were also well respected manufacturers of such accessories.
Check out Rimini Lambretta Centre http://www.riminilambrettacentre.com as they are probably the best dealer in original accessories today. Paolo and Dean create some of the best mod scooters on the road today. Another great source is Scooter Emporium who have a shop on eBay, Marco and Steve are also great guys to deal with.
Ger O'Connell
Thanks Ger for your comment. If somebody can brag about having amazing accessories here, it's certainly you. My heart jumped a few beats when I saw photos of your scooters on flickr. You should be proud.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see a real live Nannuci accessory one day. I haven't yet. I think this goes to show how rare they are.
I know of Rimini but by reputation only. I haven't had the chance of dealing with them. I'm glad to see that you approve of them.
As for Scooter Emporium, I'm currently waiting for 2 items from them. One is a vintage Castrol
scooter care book and the other is a pair a plastic blue inserts that were missing from my Falbo horncast. I still can't believe I found them!
For those of you who want to see Mister O'Connell's wonderful scooter collection and desirable accessories, have a look here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ger_oconnell/sets/72157624350567856/
Patrick
ReplyDeleteThanks for your very kind comments. I have the same Castrol care book from Marco and I love it! If you have already found a Falbo horn embellisher then you are not far behind me!
If you visit the Rimini site and click on the gallery section you will see some Nanucci accessories. In the Series 3 section there is a very famous scooter called All Mod Cons that has the very same backrest as the one in your brochure. I think there are more accessories on this and Dean's own TV200, Speedball, than I could ever assemble.
Ger
Oh cool! I'll make sure to check out the Rimini gallery section and drool profusely.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy, I had to stop looking as it made me insanely jealous :)
ReplyDeleteForgot to say that your sidepanel embellishers were made by Vigano. one of the better accessory companies from Italy. You are correct in saying that they were originally made for Lambretta Series 1 and 2 models.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I see that they have the side panel embellishers on the site for sale. I noticed that they have the original Vigano stickers on them. (or are they?)
ReplyDeleteMy '59 Vespa VNB has a few original Vigano accessories on them. (It's the scooter you see me sitting on in the small photo at the top of this page) I'm working on a upcoming post about my daily rider and will mention all the cool stuff it has on it. So keep posted!
I look forward to it. The Vigano stickers are definitely original. Rimini don't sell anything else :)
ReplyDeleteHi there - nice scooters Ger, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI would just like to point out that Nannucci Ltd were not a manufacturing company themselves.
They were a store & wholesale distributor in London & their range was almost entirely made up of goods imported from French & Italian accessory manufacturers.
The photo posted above from the Scooter & Three Wheeler magazine is showing Ulma Sidepanel Crashbars.
The photos from the Nannucci catalogue are showing 2 x different Ulma Backrest carriers, Ulma Florida Bars, Ulma Fork link cover, Ulma Wheel Disc & spinner, the Racing Seat I believe was manufactured by Ancillotti & all of the Mudflaps were manufactured by Metalplast. The extended front rack was manufactured by Fiar, I am not sure about the exhaust it could be Ancilotti.
I also have some 1955 accessory catalogues from the French manufacturers Ardor & Arpel.
When I get 5 minutes I will post some pictures.
Thanks Dave
ReplyDeleteIt will be great to see the other catalogues that you have. I have a racing seat very similar to the one on this page and it is a Guiliari model although I as you say Ancilloti were famous for their slopeback seats. Were the legshield toolboxes made by Ulma?
I love this guys! This is exactly why I do this blog! Putting fanatics like us together and learning from each other. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteJust a little clarification about the Vigano sidepanel embellishers. I didn't mean to imply that Rimini didn't sell authentic stuff. I just wasn't sure if the logo was a "sticker" or not. I thought it might of been a plastic insert or metal logo of some kind.(like they do on on crashbars for instance) I couldn't tell from the pictures. I have no doubt that Rimini only sell the genuine deal. Thanks for pointing that out.
I think you will find it is a sticker, like the ones on some of my Vigano accessories which is probably why your ones have probably disappeared over the years.
ReplyDeleteDont worry about your comments as they were taken in good faith :) We are all learning every day and I'm looking forward to Dave posting the brochures he mentioned.
I will dig out my old Raydyot and Wipac brochures and scan those in as well. There are some nice unusual bits in thise as well such as the Raydyot indicators that you see on my TV175 and beautifully named Wipac Signicators (or indicators to the rest of the world!) that are going on the SS180. As you say lets keep sharing the knowledge that we have as we will all benefit.
Can't agree with you more!
ReplyDeleteJust posted some photos of the new paint scheme on my SS180 on flickr, would appreciate your opinion
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of color!
ReplyDeleteYou must have the most desirable models out there: a Vespa GS 160, a Vespa SS180 and a Lambretta TV200. And that TV175 s2 is quite the looker too! I have a hard time wrapping my head around it! Do you have a Vespa SS90 and Lambretta SX200 hidden somewhere? ;)
No SS90 hidden under the floorboards I'm afraid :( They are going for silly money these days and are even more expensive in Italy. Apparently there here are still a few reasonably priced ones to be found in Canada and New Zealand. I remember reading that out of a very limited production run of less than 9,000 that a large number were shipped over to these countries. Apparently the only difference is that they they do not have the dummy tank and centrally mounted spare wheel. So you may be lucky!
ReplyDeleteMy first scooter was a SX200 that had a chrome mudguard, legshields, running boards and sidepanels. It had been done by an original mod so some of the chrome was a bit faded and it arrived in bits in four or five boxes but it was a thing of beauty to an 18yr old mod in Ireland. It cost the princely sum of £150.00 which wouldn't buy you a mudguard bumper today! I only have a couple of poor quality photos of it but I will dig them out and post them for a laugh :)
Haha Ger is a man after my own heart - I too have a few scooters tucked away like this little 1971 Series 2 SS90 in Yellow an original colour option for Indonesia export models.
ReplyDeleteYou can see a few from my collection here on my website http://www.royale-enamel.com/the-west-java-scooter-collection/
And some of my accessory collection here
http://www.royale-enamel.com/the-west-java-scooter-collection/west-java-scooters-vintage-accessories-collection/
I just remembered the rubber mats shown on the Nannucci catalogue were produced by an Italian company in Italy called Diamant. Those of you considering buying old rubber items over the internet or Ebay beware that once rubber items are subjected to the atmosphere they start a long degradation process. Unless one of these Diamant mats has been kept sealed in an air tight plastic bag it is likely to be hard brittle & tear very easily.
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome collection. I've never seen the SS90 in yellow before, only the red and blue models, very nice. Love the seat on the Tornado as well.
And you are right there are some Diamant mats that go on eBay that are in appalling condition and would tear the moment you attempted to put them on but they still achieve crazy prices.
@ Ger: You are right in saying that Canada has received a lot of those SS90. I remember trying one out in 1997 and I really was taken back at how zippy and fast they are. Today, the standard Vespa 90 is one of the most frequently found here in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteI heard of a story back in those days of somebody leaving an SS90 in an alley be because it didn't run anymore and it was taking to much place in the garage. Can you believe that!
@ Dave: That yellow SS90 is a find of a lifetime. Wow! And that Campi trailer! I want one!