Folding scooter from the 1960s

A site about restoring an old Lombard Industries Centaur folding motor scooter to pristine condition.

Although I have never actually seen one before, I have been looking for a Lombard Industries Centaur folding motor scooter for about ten years. Designed for use by private pilots and boaters, this neat little unit will run 35mph using a Clinton engine, and folds up to a large suitcase-sized package that weighs about 50 lbs. This particular scooter was in a friend's garage - he had bought it from another TRAACA club member, but decided he didn't want to mess with it.

Lombard Industries Centaur folding motor scooter (Thanks, John K.!)

[#1 posted by beekone , December 4, 2008 1:36 PM]

Daddy want

[#2 posted by Patrick Dodds , December 4, 2008 1:43 PM]

Mmm, 50lbs - not quite light enough for the scooter-train-scooter commute then. Shame, it's a delightful looking object.

[#3 posted by Takuan , December 4, 2008 1:54 PM]

do an electric version

[#4 posted by gnosis , December 4, 2008 2:22 PM]

Drool. I would love to jump off a train, assemble it mid-air, land on it perfectly and speed off. With the girl. In Bollywood.

[#5 posted by John Markos O'Neill , December 4, 2008 3:47 PM]

Most awesome breadbox ever.

[#6 posted by Michael A. Banks , December 4, 2008 4:46 PM]

Perfect! Big enough to get around, yet uses little fuel--and small enough to take inside and avoid theft. (Or maybe keep it in your car's trunk as backup.)
--Mike

[#7 posted by Takuan , December 4, 2008 4:54 PM]

with some wings on the side it would make a great logo. And toast.

[#8 posted by 13tales , December 4, 2008 6:02 PM]

Reminds me a bit of the utterly awesome Honda Motocompo... Never sold outside Japan to my knowledge, and last manufactured in 1982 or so. Absolutely priceless marketing brochure: http://tinyurl.com/ywtc9 (work-safe, but may explode your brain)

There are so many things to ROFL at in that brochure, I don't know where to begin :D

The punchline, however, is that I passed a guy riding one about a month ago... 1982. The bike is older than I am. Build quality? Hell yes.

[#9 posted by sammich , December 4, 2008 6:51 PM]

Takuan - it looks ~just~ like a (Dualit) toaster, but with a child-proof safety lid :)

(praps it would keep your bum warm on those cold february mornings?)

[#10 posted by Takuan , December 4, 2008 6:55 PM]

seen the Surreal Gourmet?
http://www.victorydrive.com/new2/images/sized/surrealtoaster.jpg

[#11 posted by sammich , December 4, 2008 7:00 PM]

:) - but i'm afraid it may be indefensible in the face of global warming :(

[#12 posted by Bender , December 4, 2008 7:07 PM]

Well, it's as good as it's gonna get until the future, when George Jetson's car folds up as a wallet.

[#13 posted by froitzheim , December 4, 2008 7:36 PM]

I just saw a post on ebay for a clinton engine selling on Dec. 7

http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZcentaurQ20scooterQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ

[#14 posted by Anonymous , December 4, 2008 10:23 PM]

Honda made a foldable scooter called the Motocompo to fit in the cargo space of their small city cars back in the early 80's.

Here's a link to a Wikipedia article on the Motocompo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Motocompo

[#15 posted by freeyourcrt , December 4, 2008 10:23 PM]

No vid???!!!

[#16 posted by urshrew , December 5, 2008 6:45 AM]

I would buy that in a New York minute.

[#17 posted by Gilbert Wham , December 5, 2008 12:45 PM]

@#2: Feh. I'm pretty sure I can carry a 50lb box on & off a train. I want one...

[#18 posted by crosleyguy , January 1, 2009 7:17 AM]

im looking for a honda fold uo scooter I think they call them motocombo I have 3 centaurs [fold up scooters by Lombard Ind.] & would like a honda anybody know where theres one