Wayne and Vikki Norman had been searching for a Vespa 90 racer (for Vikki to ride), but getting hold of one was proving to be something of a nightmare. A quick think and a change of direction saw Innocenti’s Luna line machines being chosen as a suitable alternative.

The original plan was to get a Vega 75 until a chance phone call, in August 2007, from Adam (Bob) of the Leicester Phoenix SC. He was at the Grand Prix Scooters Open Day and told them there was an importer who was selling scooters, which just happened to include a Lui 50CL and he thought they should give it a look. The scooter was a runner, complete and a mere £450. Before parting with their hard earned cash, the little Lui was given a few spins round the car park by both Wayne and Adam. Then a deal was struck for £420, with the dealer being happy along with Wayne and Vikki who now had a project to work on. Lui (for that was now his name) was loaded into the back of their Peugeot and off on a 15 mile trip to his new home.

On arrival, Lui was unloaded and subjected to more spins around their Close. To add to the fun, Lui decided that he would be a struggle to start – and then the throttle cable snapped! Now this would stop most people and as Wayne and Vikki have always been 100% Vespa, this meant they had no spare. No fear for Wayne who managed to complete a suitable bodge in half an hour and Lui was up and running again.

Then the homework began, with Wayne undertaking research on Lui to see what he should and shouldn’t have. This paid off with the discovery that Lui was of 1968 vintage but he was missing some rubber trims, however he did have a genuine speedo fitted (a bonus as the 50CL didn’t come with one as standard) and the rear rack, which although not an Innocenti item, looked right; so it was kept.

As Lui was Vikki’s scooter she wanted him a girlie shade of pink! Mind you, this wasn’t what Wayne had in mind. He and some friends convinced Vikki to think of another colour, so she settled on Lui’s original colour of orange, but with a modern girlie twist.

A visit to see Neil at Leicester Enamellers was next on the agenda as the hunt for a colour match began. Neil said that ‘Pukka Pie’ orange was close and he had it in stock (hence the graphic behind the seat). He got the job of not only doing the orange powder coat, but of also doing the metallic black parts and the silver parts of the scooter. The legshields and the petrol tank were sent to Shane at Faircharm Restorations to be sprayed orange as well. So why paint for these parts – well, that’s simple, they both had small dents that needed filling and this wouldn’t have been possible if they were then to be powder coated. Shane also had all the scooter parts blasted before they were either sprayed or powder coated. The end result was both companies came up trumps with their colour matching. In fact the overall cost was a mere £170 for the powder coating and £250 for the paintwork.

While the main parts of Lui were away being blasted and coated or painted, Wayne and Vikki made contact with Jem Booth in Preston. He supplied them with all the parts they needed, including the missing rubber trim, a new seat pad, seat cover, gasket sets and many other items. There were some things that even Jem couldn’t supply and a new stand was one of them. A look through the small ads in Scootering paid dividends with a stand and headset base coming from a seller in Staffordshire. A visit to Wicksteed Park Parts Fair and Peanut Duck saw more parts being acquired – not because they were needed, but because they were cheap!

Lui’s engine was only taken apart to be cleaned, with many hours being spent with cotton buds and toothpicks, getting into the small parts. Once it was put back together the engine was put back into the scooter with no major work being done to it.

Now the fun began and the problems started with Wayne reassembling Lui – not the easiest job when you’re used to working on Vespas! He battled on and all was going well until a problem was found with the forks, which was traced to the stem being bent. Panic then set in. However, at this point Dickie from Grand Prix Scooters stepped in and provided a straight set of forks for which he’d accept nothing. The forks then had a trip to the blasters and then back to the powder coaters before the build recommenced. While this was going on the seat was taken to a company in Barwell who fitted the new seat cover at a cost of £45. It was now hard decision time, with Lui being relegated to the shed as he was taking up too much room in the dining room! A few additional items on Lui came from Wayne’s own fair hands with him making the brake cable adjusters and the number plate bracket.

Despite his move to less salubrious surroundings, Lui was soon completed and it was time to get him registered. Pete Davies (British Lambretta Archive) helped on this one, researching the scooter and providing paperwork to confirm Lui’s 1968 vintage. Footman James carried out the necessary work in respects of Lui’s insurance and then it was off to MJC Motorcycles in Enderby where Matt did the MoT (after laughing at Lui). Despite the laughs the little Luna line machine passed his MoT with flying colours.

However, the difficult task and most nerve-racking task was to come – registration with the DVLA. A trip to Nottingham with all the assembled paperwork and fees saw the scooter being inspected. The inspector was thorough, asking a myriad of questions such as; how long Vikki had owned it? Where it came from etc? Despite the inspection, it wasn’t clear whether everything was OK or not. Then two days later paperwork arrived with Lui’s 1968 age related registration on them. A mere 20 months after purchase and Lui was back on the road.

Vikki would like to thank Wayne for his hard work and patience in getting her scooter onto the road. They both found that most parts can be obtained for the Luna line machines either from Jem Booth, parts fairs, eBay and even the private ads in magazines such as this. Vikki did warn that some prices can be expensive but it was all worth it in the end with another little Lambretta on the road.

Web Editor