LOONEY LUI

Introduced in March 1968 to take advantage of an Italian law that effectively treated 50cc motorcycles as pedal cycles, the Lambretta CL50 featured a 49.8cc engine, a three speed gearbox and developed 1.48hp through a box type exhaust. With those specifications you could be forgiven for thinking that it didn’t really sound much good for anything, but as it could be legally ridden by 14-year-olds it found an eager audience among style-conscious Italian teenagers.

Elsewhere the space age design was greeted with less enthusiasm, but as with all underdogs it attracted a devoted following. Game for a challenge they set to improving its performance. The race to create the ultimate Lui continues, with the latest entry being Tino Sacchi’s Super Lui engine casing, a development that Mike Friend simply couldn’t ignore.

Mad Mike

As Mike explained to he got into scooters in