Although the name has been around for a while, up until a few weeks ago the only Scomadi you could buy was a hand built limited edition machine costing around £8,000. The brand has been developed by Paul Melici of PM Tuning and Frank Sanderson of Lambretta Innovation in Lancashire, the duo are both well known in their respective fields, Frank for his hand built Lambretta based specials (usually with either an auto or motorcycle engine transplanted into a vintage chassis), Paul for his tuning prowess and scooter sprinting success.

Rumours of a production Lambretta style machine have been around for a while but the two entrpreneurs have finally managed to pull it off, no mean feat for a couple of what were essentially ‘just’ niche market scooter builders. The cost to bring something like this to market just doesn’t bear thinking about, never mind the additional uncertainty of having a new scooter built in China to UK quality control standards, setting up a dealer network across Europe, developing the infrastructure, parts, spares, storage and distribution network.

Last month the first shipment of 50cc Scomadis landed in the UK, a great testament to Paul and Frank. Not only does the Scomadi look good in the photos but it also lives up to the hype in real life. It’s a fantastic looking scooter. If you’re a vintage scooter fan you’ll recognise the silhouette as that of a Lambretta Grand Prix, a classic shape and style. Ok the Scomadi may be quite a bit wider than a Lambretta, it may also be built from plastic (with a steel frame) and it’s country of manufacture is in China rather than Italy but this is the closest you’ll get to a brand new Lambretta style scooter (unless of course you count the ill-fated Lambretta LN, a Lambretta in name if nothing else).

Having seen and ridden the original hand built 250-300cc Scomadis I must say that the overall finish and styling of the new scooters is very pleasantly surprising. It certainly looks the part, the finish is excellent and everything seems to fit well (let’s face it original Lambrettas were never 100% straight from the factory). The scooter is quite wide and a bit higher than you’d expect, that’s because the 50cc, 125cc and 300cc machines all share the same bodywork and running gear. That extra width and the 12″ wheels means it’s worth having a sit on one if you’re quite short. The scooter is also very light, 89kg for the 50cc – so the power to weight ratio should be good once the larger capacities arrive in 2015. The good thing is that the larger capacity engines can be transplanted into the 50cc frame fairly easily, it means a 16 year old can upgrade the engine at 17 and keep the same scooter.

At just £1899 (plus OTR) the 50cc makes an affordable and stylish alternative to the modern autos, so it’s well worth a look. The 125cc will arrive in January and the 300cc in June, the first batch of 300’s will be assembled in the UK and will cost an extra £500 over the estimated £4400 list price. Scomadi are running a crowd sourcing fund to help get the orders fulfilled for those first 100 machines, almost half are already sold so if you want to get your hands on one of the first machines read the following press release from Scomadi and get your name on the hottest new scooter of 2015…

Paul Melici

Paul Melici, second from right and Frank Sanderson pictured at the Thundersprint in 2012

“The first 100 Scomadi 300’s will be available in the UK in June 2015. The base cost of these scooters will be around £4,399 (To be confirmed). The first 100 carry a £500 extra price tag because they are being hand built in the UK at the Lancashire factory with components being shipped directly, hence the small increase in cost. These scooters as well as other offers can be secured through the IndieGoGo platform. You can secure your Scomadi 300 by going here and putting down a £500 pledge, this gets you on the priority list for delivery in June 2015”.

“The second wave of production scooters is estimated to be at least 3 months after the June date, again this will be a small run and are expected to be sold fairly quickly also”.

We have had a few concerns from the public that Scomadi are having problems in producing the 300 hence the IndieGoGo campaign. This could not be further from the truth. Scomadi are producing Scooters but in limited quantities, as you will appreciate a mass production run is very expensive”.

“The idea behind the IndieGoGo campaign is to see if the scooter community would get behind and support Scomadi so they would be able to produce more and faster to meet demands by the public. You will appreciate Scomadi are a small company and don’t have the deep pockets of other larger automotive companies. However, with or without the support of the IndieGoGo campaign the scooters will be getting built and delivered – that is certain”.

“If you are interested in securing one of the first 100 scooters then please visit the IndieGoGo site and secure your scooter with a £500 pledge. As I write this 38 have already gone”.

“Many thanks for reading and your continued support”.

To secure your Scomadi 300 or find out more please click the button below now.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/scomadi-300cc-scooter-an-iconic-modern-classic