Last updated 17th July 2009.

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The value of your Lambretta is a difficult question to answer! The value of your scooter depends on many things, local market is probably the biggest. Are scooters popular in your area, are they easy to get hold of are just a few. Below is a table which is intended as a rough guide only, and by no means is a definite value or guide to any scooter.

The figures are based on, not mine or any others personal opinion, but consists of hours of research from adverts, magazines, and general conversations with owners, buyers, scooters shops, clubs etc.

There is a wide variation between dealers, and private sellers prices, and this does generally reflect in the level of restoration or condition of work carried out on the scooters, but you can sometimes manage to secure a bargain. Unfortunately for your and me, the buyer, this last statement is becoming rarer and rarer, as even the uninformed become aware of the scooters popularity at this present time due to the media's consistent use in promoting their products. I have known of owners who have found scooters in the shed down the bottom of the yard, asking very high prices, and phoning around as many dealers as possible to raise the price.

The dealers in turn get the bad press for pushing the prices up, some justified, some not!

In the price guide below you will find 7 categories to which we have split the prices, a brief explanation is needed to explain each catagory and price difference!

• Original is where the scooter is in very good overall original condition. The main factors are straightness of body work, and good clean original factory paint. By this we mean you should expect a few scratches due to the age, but the scooter is not in need of a re spray. Main mechanicals should be working and only minor parts parts missing should be considered. As more and more scooters are restored, this catagory I predict will be where values are held, and in time rise!

Please note under the following restored categories, a restoration is just that. The complete scooter including engine and all other components should have been restored. Simply painting a scooter, and fitting a few new trims and badges is not considered a restoration.

• Restored to original By this we mean a restoration that is done to a very high standard indeed, intended to be able to be entered into a concurs class as shows or custom fairs. The restoration should be done to to as near original specification and colours as possible, no custom, major performance or other modifications should have been carried out.

• Restored Other A high percentage of restorations will fall under this catagory, as lets face it when Lambrettas first hit these shores, most owners modified and customised their Lambretta in some shape or form. Custom or non original styled paint work, tuning and other modifications that make the Lambretta non factory original will all fall into this catagory. The reason we have a seperate restored catagory is that in some circumstances modifications made to your Lambretta may not be to every bodies tastes, some people like X modification, some like Y!

• Clean and working is best used to describe a Lambretta that may not have been restored, but possibly has been painted, or at least made to look clean and presentable. All major mechanicals and parts fitted should be in good condition, and possibly replaced and overhauled as well. The Lambretta should be currently road legal, or at least capable of being road legal with very little work. Modifications whether performance, cosmetic or other may have been carried out, and where such items enhance the price of the scooter in your view, the cost of the modifications could well be added to our guide price.

• Needs attention Body work should be straight and possibly be in need of small repairs, maybe even painting. Engine may well not be running, but again should not be in need of major work, but possibly a good overhaul and service.

• Restoration project The body work will probably need attention, some parts minor or fairly major may be missing. Engine probably will not run or even be siezed. In truth the scooter should be suspected that a complete rebuild, re spray, parts replaced is needed.

• Spares only is just that, this is where a Lambretta needs too many parts replacing, or has too many parts missing to make it financially viable to repair or restore the scooter or at minimum be able to use it. In many cases such machines because of the current market trends, there are very few machines that will fit this bill, but the fact that they need some major work makes them fit into this catagory.

Please please look past the shinney paintwork and pretty looks when buying any Lambretta, there are more and more reports of poor quality Lambrettas being purchased because they looked good! Have you read our buying guide.

 

To Restore or not to Restore?

A word from the wise. Anyone noticed that gone are the days when straight, original Lambrettas are freely available?

Go back 10 years and the most sought after Lambrettas, Italian 175's and 200's were gaining in value and these were the machines that everyone aspired to. Did many people spare a thought for the wonder of having one in original condition; original trim and paint, even if everso-slightly worn? Many machines had worn that trim for 30 or 40 years or more, the same trim paint and fittings that it had left the factory with. Did many people spare a thought for the more humble standard Li models?

While many were busy telling stories of how it was in the 1960's/70's/80's, when you could pick up original 175's and 200's for peanuts, did they realise that there was potential value in original condition machines. These days it seems that these machines have become so scarse that we need to reiterate the rarity, historic value and not entirely coincidentally, it is increasingly being reflected in the higher market value of these machines. Opinions will naturally vary as to when a machine becomes 'too tatty' to bear, but ask yourself some searching questions before venturing to ask out loud "Should I restore my original condition machine or not?". You may like to consider it's worth (historic, sentimental or financial; any combination of these). This does not mean that it cannot be sympathetically taken apart, cleaned up, rebuilt, just that sensible thought and insight should be given to conserving it's heritage. It is amazing what you can achieve with some cleaning products and sweat, and do you know what? Whisper it, it costs less money to get a result!
Too many people have taken perfectly straight, clean machines and with good intention 'restored' them, possibly dispensing with many of the factory original parts in the process. The original panels, paint and trim that people could not wait to do away with (still true in some cases today) are precisely what makes these machines so special. Many dealers have been asked to restore such machines, and maybe with some regret have done so - after all the machine is the customers' property and the decision has to be theirs. Consequently, restored examples are now much more of a common sight than an unrestored original.

Just remember that there is no shame in a 40 - 50 year old machine showing a few scars and scrapes - it happens to us all. Call it 'patina' or 'natural aging', there is nothing wrong with it. It is all part of the machine's rich history and historic value. As a wise man once said to me "It is only original once".