Launching Frankie The Mobile Coffee Van - Walthamstow Wetlands Centre

We have returned to our roots and launched Frankie our 1958 Innocenti Lambro coffee Van. Frankie was the first three-wheeler Caffe Lambro discovered whilst hunting rural Italy for hidden Lambretta scooters. Our close friend Giranfranco Mione told us that he had heard of a Lambretta abandoned in a barn near the Dolomite Mountains. The following morning we set off on the journey through the mountains and were greeted by an elderly couple at the gates to the barn Gianfranco guided us to. The coupled welcomed us into their home and in typical Italian fashion opened a bottle of home made red wine. We are still unsure if this is a tactic for us to buy abandoned rusty vehicles or a genuine sign of hospitality. They explained that the Lambretta was used on the farm but disused since 1983 and they bought a van. Immediately alarm bells were ringing as this area was agricultural and not a straight or flat road for miles, a two-wheeled Lambretta scooter would be of no use? As we opened the door to the barn we could see an off white van-type vehicle hidden amongst the tools, hay and dust. We asked ‘where is the Lambretta?’. The couple pointed at the off-white coloured van saying “Lambretta, Lambretta!’. We raised our eye-brows and thought it was a genuine mistake as they had confused a van with a motorbike. We pointed out the mistake but the couple insisted it was a Lambretta, so we began to clear the debris from the van and noticed a Lambretta badge on the front. We were scooterists and unaware that Lambretta not only produced two-wheeled scooters during the 1960s but also three-wheelers for commercial use. We bought it for the Lambretta history and the rest is history. The Caffe Lambro Journey began and we always intended Frankie (named after Gianfranco Mione who helped us find the Lambro) to be a coffee van. This month Frankie was restored to his former glory and adapted with a modern Sanremo Coffee machine to serve coffee lovers at Walthamstow Wetlands Centre, London.