Vintage Lewis Leathers Rarity / Help - Super Lightning 401

[Geekrobot]

Hi Fedora Lounge,

I'm enjoying my recent Lewis jackets and just found a rare vintage Lightning that is [potentially] a grail for me.

I am reaching out to LL to inquire about any info, but also wanted to see if any LL savants could provide any insight, because it seems like a super rare find. I'm a Lewis collector and have owned many jackets, but I find the vintage stuff can be tough to nail down.

Anyway...

This is what I think is a yellow 401 Super Lightning jacket, which were supposedly horsehide. It certainly doesn't feel like the sheepskin vintage jackets I've owned. This model and the Super Bronx, also introduced within the same couple-year span, were an upcharge due to the horsehide.

I know LL offered a variety of colors in the 70s, but unsure what type of hide those were. Not sure if LL did colored horse or cowhides back when, or if they were sheepskin like the earlier jackets. The base hide color is darker than my newer yellow Monza. From what I've read, the older colored hides were actually available in yellow, gold (which I think this is, and no longer a color on offer), and orange, etc.

According to the good (Rin Tanaka) book, the Lightning zip, blue and red inner label, 70s model and corresponding tags, and square badge indicate early - mid 70s.

Also, from the hangtag, perhaps it was in the LL shop archives for sale at some point?

Anyway, please see below, any help is appreciated. The jacket is in unbelievable condition, so I am skeptical but optimistic it's the real deal. Would very much appreciate any help you can provide. My holy grail jacket is actually this era of vintage Lewis Leathers, but a yellow Cyclone or Twin Track Bronx. However, the Lightning, especially in this configuration, is right up there with the most classic Lewises, so I had to take this opportunity to grab it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Geekrobot]

Will also post some fit pics soon, but the cut is also much more akin to other vintage LL jackets i've owned:
- Armholes are lower, providing more room in the chest and shoulders. Sleeves are wider and taper less to the wrist. Most of the recent LL jackets I've owned have much higher armholes and tailored sleeves.
- Length is short, as expected from a Lightning, but is a 'vintage-correct' 24 in front with ~25 in back with drop.
- It does have the pointed / triangle back yoke, not the later straight back yoke.

Amazingly, it's a very good fit for me, so I am hoping this will be a lifelong piece of outwear.

 

[theeprimitivesound]

Kill Bill vibes.

 

[Geekrobot]

100%, but more directly, Bruce Lee Game of Death vibes [also something I love].

Here are some telling catalogue shots from a March 1972 LL catalogue entitled the Colourful World of Lewis Leathers:

401, in yellow, nonetheless

colors available:

 

[Geekrobot]

Side note: AFAIK, Game of Death, where Bruce wore this iconic yellow and black jumpsuit, wasn't out til 1978 in the West.

Approximating features, this jacket seems like early 70s. Probably very close to the debut of 401 and early on in the offering of colors.

So, is the jacket a Bruce Lee tribute, or did Bruce come across some old Brit riding about London in the early 70s and think, damn, that's a cool jacket?

 

[Geekrobot]

According to Steve at Lewis, it does indeed check out as horsehide, mid 70s, one of the vintage archive Derek used to sell in the early days of his ownership of the company.

The jacket is in such excellent condition, almost new old stock. It doesn't even look broken in at all compared to even my newest jacket.

Unbelievably, I got it for substantially less than a new one.

EDIT: Sorry if this sounds like gloating. I am kinda just nerding out.

 

[Edward]

100%, but more directly, Bruce Lee Game of Death vibes [also something I love].

Here are some telling catalogue shots from a March 1972 LL catalogue entitled the Colourful World of Lewis Leathers:

401, in yellow, nonetheless

View attachment 604217

colors available:

View attachment 604215

Just chanced across this thread. Quite the score. The 401 is a rare birdy indeed; the only one of the four Lightning models that is not in production today - and afaik it was never revived by Derek. I'm not honestly entirely clear on the difference between the 401 and the 391 versions. AFAIK, the colours and stripes were optional across the Lewis range. The addition of 'Super' to the name leads me to suspect it might just be ever so slightly longer in the body - the Super Phantom and Super Monza when they arrived were somewhat longer than their predecessors, designed to appeal to younger riders who preferred a crouched, racing-style riding position, and of course the 70s was the era in which Japanese racing style bikes started to become fashionable, sales riding as the British motorcycled industry itself declined.

The bright coloured leathers were heavily promoted by various brands across the 70s. Mostly promo concentrate on it as a visibility / safety feature. This was an era in which cars had finally supplanted the motorcycle as affordable transport for the average, British working man, and as the number of drivers who had ever been riders plummeted, so too did the average driver's awareness of motorcyclists in traffic. Hence the rise in the 70s of the "Think Bike" public information film campaign in the UK - this was the first:

I remember a much more graphic version sometime around the end of the 70s that ended with a close-up on broken glass with (impliedly) the motorcyclist's blood on it.

Bright coloured leathers were regularly marketed in that decade as enhancing the visibility and thus safety of the rider. I suspect also there was a more subtle playing to social norms of the time. For many non-riders, and some riders, black leather had taken on negative connotations (particularly, but not limited to, outlaw patch clubs), and this tabloid notion of hooligan wear did contribute to developing a market in other colours. Speedway was also undergoing a bit of a revival then, and that and motorcycle racing more generally of coursed also helped to shift brighter colours I suspect.

I'm almost certain I've seen a couple of colour photos of Joe Strummer wearing a yellow leather jacket, but I can't find them online now. A black 391 was of coursed Joes' jacket of choice in the peak Clash era.

 

[Tom71]

What a find! Enjoy and wear the hell out of it. Supercool!

 

[Geekrobot]

Thanks @Edward for the great detail. If I understand correctly, the 'super' part of the name in this model refers to it being a horsehide jacket vs the usual cowhide or sheepskin in those early Lewis jackets. I'd also agree that it implies a longer length per models like the Super Monza. That said, it is still a shorter vintage style length, the size 40 lands right at my hips and has much larger armholes than my newer Lewis jackets, with a nice taper in the sleeve down to the cuffs.

And thanks @Tom71 , definitely the type of jacket that got me into this stuff in the first place. It makes me geek out that it's in such good shape too.

 

[Grandville]

What a tresure to behold, congratulations on finding the white whale!!

 

[Edward]

Another point of interest with this jacket is the repositioning of the sleeve zips. Cuff zips would normally be on the top of the sleeve on a lightning, and the usually angled forearm zip pocket is here perpendicular to the cuff. Presumably both changes made to accommodate the stripes. Really interesting piece that links to a very specific period of the British leather industry at a time when it was still gonig strong, even if the British motorcycle industry itself was starting to drop off from what it had once been.