German Factory Introducing the '“Double-Lambretta”, 1953

In 1953, the NSU factory at Dusseldorf Germany has introduced the “Double-Lambretta.” The idea is that a young couple use a single Lambretta which is rather like a small motor cycle. When the couple marry, and children come a long, the couple then bought another Lambretta. Both machines are joined together making a machine rather like a small car that will carry two grown ups and two children. The double Lambretta has a speed of 78 km per hour, and uses 3.4 liters per 100km.

The motor scooter started to gain a foothold in post-war Germany. NSU responded fastest and presented the NSU Lambretta for the first time at the Frankfurt Trade Fair in 1950, built under licence from the Italian company Innocenti. The new NSU target group: women. With standard fuel consumption of 2 liters/100 km, the Lambretta enjoyed superb commercial success in Germany. 1100 scooters rolled off the production line in August 1951 alone.

The NSU Lambretta started life in 1950s, being made under license in Neckarsulm, and between then and the time the production stopped in 1957, some 189,000 examples were turned out of the factory. Based on the 125cc engine unit, early example were as Innocenti had designed, but soon the NSU works modified the scooters with there own “extras.”

The first model to receive this treatment was the NSU Luxury Lambretta, which gained two tone paint, highly polished bits of ally on the rear side panels (supposed to protect the side panels), a front bumper bar, and a parking light that could be switched on directly on the “motor scooter dashboard.”