A friend I rode with in the later 1970s was really "into" Viscounts (Lambert's later name). He worked his way up the line as he got the $ to do so. They did make a splash in their day. They weighed the same as a top line Raleigh, Motobecane and similar makes and were pretty darn close to the real toney Italian stuff for a 1/3 or so of the price.

I too would recommend chaging the fork though the only Lambert/Viscount I ever saw with a damaged fork was after it was hit by a car.