• 1 of 4 Original Arthur Francis Lambretta GP150 S Type’s • Original mileage • Only just been re-discovered • Recently restored and rebuilt • Racing history
THE BACKGROUND
The GP series was the final range of the now classic Lambretta. Designed by Bertone, they were the final incarnation of the Series 3 shape, but with a slightly shortened headstock tube, black parts in place of chrome and a square headlamp shape for a more sleek look to enter the Lambretta into the 1970’s. Being offered with either a 125cc, 150cc, or 200cc engine mated to a 4-speed gearbox they were marketed as the ultimate machine for both serious long distance riding or just commuting to work.
Arthur Francis and his scooter racing team, Team S Equipe, based on St Alban’s Road, Watford were already extremely famous in the scooter tuning and racing scene by this point in time, having built a reputation for their “dealer special” machines that featured sportier features than the standard machine and having broken several records for long distance rides such as the London to Milan record attempt and track riding events such as their 1968 success at the Isle of Man Scooter TT where they “swept the board” taking all pole positions.
The 4 Arthur Francis GP150 S Types were all specifically designed for Team S Equipe for the 150cc class racing events. This particular 150 was fitted with dampers as fitted to the larger capacity models as standard, a larger Amal Concentric carburetor, a wide kickstart side engine mount and a fully ported cylinder with a central spark plug head to increase the power output. The 150's also received the “S Type” paint treatment with a two tone white horncast, mudguard and sidepanels over the top of the original Turquoise paint and Mini Cooper “S” badges below the legshield badges.
On the 29th October 1969, Arthur Francis purchased this GP150 as a standard machine from Lambretta Concessionaires in Croydon with the intention of turning it into one of his full blown dealer specials, the “S Type”.
The S Type was then purchased by famous scooter racer Bob Miles as a 21st birthday present who competed in several time trial events over 1970-71. Some of the tracks it has raced at include Lyden Hill, Castle Coombe, Snetterton, The Isle of Man and Mallory Park and can be seen in many period photographs of the time.
Towards the end of 1971 the bike’s heavily tuned engine gave up at a race at Mallory park and the bike was put into storage with the intention to one day put it back on the road. However, in 1980 Bob decided to move the S Type on and it ended up in a scrap yard where it sat for almost 40 years before being saved by a collector and shown to the world for the first time in it’s unrestored state. The current vendor was then involved in a chance conversation which is how he ended up with this incredibly rare machine.
After purchasing the machine, it was discovered that the machine was too far gone to keep in original condition so it was then handed it over to Dave Waddingham of DJ Scooters (a man known throughout the scooter scene as one of the best restorers around) to embark on a comprehensive, yet sympathetic restoration in order to return it to its former glory as an original GP 150 S Type.
Within the folder of paperwork that comes with the bike you will documentation which describe the more modern history of the bike. Because the bike was initially a racing bike which then sat in a scrap yard from 1980 it obviously hasn’t been able to build up a vast amount of paperwork.
What you will get within the document pack is the story of how the current owner has been able to re-register the bike with the original Watford registration. The vendor had to contact the Hertfordshire council archives to get access to their vehicle licensing records to be able to re-register the machine with the DVLA and the Lambretta Club of Great Britain were of great help with dating proofs for the machine.
Given that the machine has been resting in a scrap yard for 40 years in rainy Northern England, you would be hard pushed to tell without being told the story. DJ Scooters used as much of the original Innocenti panelwork as possible (which remained very straight due to it’s little use in period). The frame had rotted out around the petrol flap due to the original Snetterton seat having absorbed a huge amount of water and leaking onto this area, so David brazed in a new section to save the original frame loop.
The paintwork was completed to a very high standard exactly replicating the two tone scheme that it adorned during its original Team S Equipe racing period. The seat is an original Snetterton racing seat that has been recovered to a beautifully high standard.
The current owner has a gallery of pictures taken during the restoration of this bike and we have included a link below to give you an idea of what this bike looked like when it was picked up from the scrap yard. There’s also a picture of the bike with its original racing owner, Bob Miles.
Having been subject to a comprehensive restoration by one of the world’s leading Lambretta specialists, you can well expect the mechanicals to be in fine order. The engine has been subject to a full engine rebuild - when the engine was stripped, the casings were sent to be acid dipped to remove any dirt and corrosion to prep them for the build.
All of the bearings and seals have been replaced and the heavily tuned top end has been refurbished. The gearbox is a GP200 unit fitted by Arthur Francis and has a 17/47 sprocket set up with an 81 link chain to give a final drive ratio of 5.53 for racing. The carburettor has been upgraded to a Mk1.5 Amal due to having a toolbox fitted (meaning the original Tickler system on the Mk1 is unusable). The Mk1.5 features a cable choke unit for convenience but the Mk1 is included in the sale. The owner has advised that the Mk1.5’s jetting is slightly off so may need some tuning although runs okay as is.
The ignition system has been upgraded due to the original being a 6 Volt Points total loss system - not the ideal thing for long distance rides although very cool. Therefore the opportunity was taken to fit a Casa Electronic Ignition system with 12v lighting but using components which look period.
The suspension and brakes were all rebuilt as part of the restoration and we are informed pulls the machine up well and comfortably. It was fitted with Michelin ACS tyres to stay period at the time of restoration but the owner informed us it is such a fast little scooter that it blew it’s tyres on its first outing so more modern tyres have now been fitted for safety.
Are you ever going to find a machine like this again? Probably not. When the vendor asked us to sell this on his behalf, we got very giddy. Any Lambretta is appealing but an original Arthur Francis S Type with racing pedigree is about as legendary as it gets.
One to suit the serious collector for showing off and riding (thanks to the level of restoration it has received) we are sure that this is as sound an investment as it gets.
Whoever the new owner is, they will get the benefit of being at the top of the tree when it comes to period machines and they are certain to get a serious amount of street cred turning up to any event!
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1969 Lambretta GP150 Arthur Francis S Type
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