Lambretta gave Bertone a free hand — the beautiful scooter was buried in 13 months

In 1968 Innocenti — the Milan maker of the Lambretta — handed Nuccio Bertone's studio the design of a new small scooter with almost no industrial constraints. Bertone's own 1967 prototype had been judged unsellable, so the studio started again and delivered something else entirely: the Lambretta Lui, presented on 28 May 1968 — futuristic, sculpted, unlike the utilitarian scooters on Italian roads. The production line had actually started in March.

The Lui was beautiful, and wrong in almost every practical way. The 50 cc version topped out at 40 km/h — no faster than the commuter machines it was meant to replace. Small wheels made it unstable, the brakes were approximate, and it discarded the equipment scooter buyers took for granted: no spare wheel, no bag hook, a reduced floorboard and shield. Even a massive advertising campaign could not move it.

Innocenti built 37,614 units — about three-quarters of them the 50 cc — and quietly ended production in June 1969, barely over a year after launch, with only a faint economic return. The eclipse came fast: it fell over the Lambrate plant in July 1969, and by 1971 the story of Lambretta there was over. The launch that was meant to renew the marque helped finish it.