Dean Orton - A Life In Lambretta

“A Life In Lambretta - The Story of a Professional Mod” book by Dean Orton

A young English Mod moves to Italy to restore Italian Lambrettas for Italians. It’s a bizarre premise, but it’s also the truth. When Dean arrives in Rimini, few Italians appreciated Lambrettas as much as the British, who are steeped in two generations of Mod and scooterboy culture.

‘A Life in Lambretta’ is a series of anecdotes and stories told in non-chronological order, allowing the reader to witness the massive cultural change, the never-ending search for scooters and spare parts, adapting to local peculiarities, life on both sides of the sales counter, hanging out with local scooterists and enduring seemingly insurmountable difficulties - mostly in the form of the three-headed monster better known as Italian bureaucracy. Will the contents make you laugh out loud? Probably!

The 600-page hardcover book is illustrated with dozens of colour photos that visually punctuate the written content, where Dean Orton describes the events from his decision to emigrate to Italy, to the founding of his first scooter restoration workshop, the forerunner of Rimini Lambretta Centre.