-
- Experimental engine ‘3S’
-
- Short conical exhaust is not going to be quiet!
-
- Fisting a legend…
-
- Momento of the record made on the German Autobahn
-
- Science Illustrated cover
Another SLUK exclusive…
The streamliner that Romolo Ferri used to take the 125cc scooter top speed record (and many others) to 121mph in 1951 is set to run again next year if all goes to plan.
The scooter is currently in the care of the Panini family (of football sticker book fame) and housed at their superb motor museum near Modena.
Matteo Panini has found interest from SKY TV in making a program about his attempt to run the fully-streamlined Innocenti-built special at Bonneville Salt Flats in 2017.
The Siluro is missing the supercharger that was essential to powering it to the record in 1951.
It was last run without the supercharger for a film in the 1950s, just using a carburettor on the highly-tuned development engine. The plan is currently to get it running again in a similar normally-aspirated configuration.
Rimini Lambretta Centre will be tasked with getting it running once more while trying to preserve as many of the original details. Some small modifications may be required for it to meet the safety requirements stipulated by the Bonneville meeting organisers.
It should be pointed out that this will not be another record attempt, but simply a chance for Matteo to run the scooter once again in the Classic demonstration class.
Vespa aficionado Marco Fumigalli attempted to take a selection of classic Vespas to Bonneville for the same meeting last year, but the meeting was cancelled after rain on the salt flats. Instead the plan is to return with both Vespas and Lambrettas in 2017…
You might notice the careful use of a plural there. This is because there are currently 2 teams building modern streamliners based around the Lambretta configuration.
SRP Racetech are looking to achieve 150mph from a Lambretta that they are developing in the UK using engine parts supplied by Tino Sacchi. It is their ambition to run at Bonneville.
Completely separately, Tony Tessier is leading another Lambretta Siluro project using an engine built around the Casacase and forthcoming SSR250 cylinder kit. This will be enclosed in a fairing by American Craig Vetter.
To fully understand the importance of aerodynamics in these attempts all you need to know is that Innocenti achieved 121mph with only 20.75hp on tap – or about the same as a bolt-on TS1. Both of the modern teams will have at least double that horsepower to play with, if not more, so 150mph is not out of the question.
Whether either of these scooters will be ready for Bonneville 2017 is still unknown. So far both teams have looked at other potential locations for their record attempts, but there are lots of complications in the current rules for such attempts (parachutes and fire-walls etc) which make this sort of thing much more complicated than it may initially appear…
For further updates; Get To SLUK…
Sticky
-
- Experimental engine '3S'
-
- Short conical exhaust is not going to be quiet!
-
- Fisting a legend...
-
- Momento of the record made on the German Autobahn
-
- Science Illustrated cover
I would love to see (and hear) this thing run. Can’t they come and do it at Pendine Sands?!
Don’t know about hearing it but the latest news is that it might be coming to Bridlington custom show if you want to see it in the metal.
I just might be able to make the trip out to Bonneville and watch this historic racer. Hopefully the other two slipstreamer projects will get to run there, too. A mate of mine in LA was planning to build a Lambretta slipstreamer with the 80mm barrel from WORB5’s sprinter as the basis for a 250+ cc engine, but I don’t know what the progress on that project is.