No, this isn’t photoshopped, or photochopped, or any other form of photo trickery; it’s a real car! This is a 1968 Lambretta Willam City and it’s powered by the folks who gave us Lambretta scooters. It’s found on eBay in Warminster, United Kingdom, about 30 minutes southeast of Bath. The price is £2,100 ($3,025) and I hesitate to even show this one because I want it! I’m a huge microcar fan, if that isn’t an oxymoron to say that.
From what it sounds like, the only rust-through on the car is at the bottom of the front edge of the door. These cars were made by Lawil Company in Italy, which stood for the first letters of Carlo Lavezzari’s name, the designer, and Henri Willam, the director of Lambretta France. Here is a Lawil van on YouTube that has been restored. That would be a fun way to haul your small vintage motorcycle or scooter to shows.
The seller has 1968 written down as the year but this looks like the longer version with a trunk/boot on the rear which would have lengthened the car to 2.05 meters (6′-8 1/2″). That doesn’t seem like a lot but the earlier version was only 1.78 meters long (5′-10″)! 1969 was when the trunk/boot was available so maybe this is a late-1968 version; either way you shouldn’t have to worry about luggage capacity for your cross-country road trip (kidding). As you can tell from this photo of a different car, you access the storage compartment by tilting the seatback forward. This car only weighs 300 kg (660 pounds) but with the small engine you won’t want to load it down too much.
There’s not a heck of a lot going on inside, which is both good and bad. Good in that things are simple and easy to fix and maintain. Bad in that you won’t have your GPS, lane-departure warning system, heated-and-cooled cupholders, or any of the other absolute necessities that you can’t live without in 2016. It looks great inside, though, which is always good. This is a 4-speed manual transmission with reverse. They made around 900 of these little gems. These are very, very small cars.
This car is powered by a Lambretta 125cc engine; although, apparently a 175cc was also available. The seller mentions that this one isn’t currently running but it isn’t seized and it shouldn’t be a huge chore to take it out and rebuild it. They also mention that they have the bumpers, two roof bars, and the spare tire but no paper work. I’m not sure what that would entail to license this car without the proper paperwork, but I would want to drive this car on public roads so that may be an important thing to get sorted out. I really, really like microcars, even though I’m 6′-5″ tall. We all know that these cars aren’t for freeway travel and they aren’t as safe as any newer vehicle is, obviously; but I still like them. I would buy this in a heartbeat at this price if it was in the US. What about you, are you a microcar fan?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAMBRETTA-WILLAM-MICROCAR-BUBBLECAR-BARN-FIND-PICK-UP-ADVERTISING-FARM-TRUCK/172171142278?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D36381%26meid%3De8039a8918eb4cb7939d53ded22de2f6%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D351709593311
That is cool, Ron! I saw that one, too. It would make a great little hauler for folks with a very light load to haul… I’d personally want an unmodified van, but they did a nice job on converting one into a pickup.
The van body is pretty cool. I think my Zundapp Bella might be longer than this thing!
Paging Lane Motor Museum…
The little red van is too cool for words, and the normal driving lights on the bumper look gigantic on these cars.
He’s talking about the red van from the video LOL.
where’s Mr. Bean?
Here in the UK,we have a childrens character called Postman Pat and his Royal Mail van looks just like this!. His has more space in the back for parcels though. This car is beyond cute!.
It look like postman Per’s car. Just in red, with his cat Emil :-)
He is named Postman Per, in Denmark.
I dont know what i mean about that car, but a head turner it for shure is.
For a local driver it could be okay, but longer than i mile avay from workshop, æææææ no.
Wish it were stateside. I love small cars, too…as evidenced by my ’51 Morris Minor and ’56 Messerschmitt, even have a Lambretta (but a scooter ’54 LD 150). I doubt this Lambretta would even pull the hills in my neighborhood…I’d have to take it to town in my pickup.
I have the same exactly, same color, same model ;) Cool car, fun to drive. It could exactly be a car in a Mr. Bean episode.
I’m not very tall (1m78) and yet it’s hard to see the road (you have the top of the windshield a bit low on these cars ^^).
What is also quite strange is that your driving position is just above the rear gear, giving odd feelings when you turn your car.
You can check my website http://clubwillam.appspot.com
I’d be glad to help you ! Contact me by email if you want more info.
I checked somthing, the engine is not from 1968 but more likely to be a 1969 one. My engine starts “M41/3-9383**” but my car is from 1969/06.
If you manage to have his S/N (engine + chassis), I could try to put a date on it.
I’ve just bought a white one that’s being delivered on Thurs
I’m away to do a complete resto on it
It would be great if you could help me date it
It looks like it doesn’t have a speedometer. On the other hand it’s so slow that you don’t need one. Don’t give it too much gas….. it might tip over backwards. Ha, Ha!
Just kidding guys. It’s a cute ride.
i have a willam lawil city A5 and need its date of manufacture to road register it,i have the chassis number can anybody help i use it for children in need events