Any Vista Torino fans?

[RideMC3]

Hi there!

I'm new to this forum but a rider of bikes of all stripes (MTB, road, CX, cruiser, BMX). I'm amazed by the bikes and restorations here -- makes me want to get my hands greasy.

I'm also a freelance writer, working on a feature story for Bicycling magazine about a 1970s Vista Torino 400 that gets abandoned at a prison in Vacaville, CA and restored by an inmate as part of a community recyclery. It's a rad little bike, and I fell in love with it instantly and wanted to learn more about it. Even the guys at the Marin Museum of Bicycling had never heard of the brand. I've been Googling with limited results, until I ran across this forum and some useful threads.

Can y'all help me find someone who knows a lot about the Vista brand? I'm interested in where it was made, when (and why) it went out of business, and any little geeky gearhead thing you can tell me about the components (especially that stick-shifter!). The bike I wrote about I assume was converted from 3-speed into singlespeed, and someone put a BMX saddle on it. The inmates found a banana seat (though not the glitter seat some of the original ads mentioned). I'm interested in figuring out which of the components are original and which may have been swapped out by a previous owner. The story is really about the life of the bike and how it may have changed as it was passed from owner to owner. I'd love to talk shop with someone.

Thanks for any help or leads. I'm based in Birmingham, Alabama and saw there's a guy who restores bikes in Gadsden (very near where I live). You can vet my work/writing at kimhcross.com and kimhcross.pressfolios.com.

Ride on!

Kim

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Welcome!

Not sure about the Vista brand myself, but there are plenty of folks on here that know the Muscle Bike era well who can probably point you in the right direction. I wonder what @CRASH knows? He is a guy full of random muscle bike details...

Luke.

 

[CRASH]

Welcome Kim, I'm vaguely familiar with them. I'm a muscle bike restorer in California, but I haven't restored any Vistas. But others have. I'm out of town right now, but I recommend moving this to the Muscle Bike forum that's in the "Other Bikes" section. Maybe Luke can move it? We can get more guys involved.

 

[CRASH]

Ok, I have a few minutes. Here's what I know About Vista and your bike.

Vista was a co-op-type company conceived by a group that was trying to push back on Schwinn in the late 60's. They didn't have a particular retail store like Sears, but they were sold in Department Stores, hardware stores, or bike shops next to Schwinns in some cases. The Muscle Bike era started in '63 and lasted till (arguably) '75. A lot of bikes were named after popular muscle cars or dragsters. In this case, after the Ford Torino. The 500 was the top of the line 5-speed with a top bar stick shifters. The 400 may have been a 3 speed with a shifter, but your picture is showing a solid rear axle. However, the rear wheel could have been replaced, although the rims are the same. In either case, the bike you showed is a coaster brake single speed.
In the early 70s boys starting modifying their muscle bikes to race off road. This was the birth of the MX (motocross) craze, which led to BMX bikes. Based on the parts shown, it looks like this Torino was modified in the 80s, but wasn't raced.

I hope that helps. Need anything more?

 

[RideMC3]

Hey Crash, thanks for the info! This is helpful. I bought a few Vista ads off eBay, and it looks like you're exactly right, they came in 3-speed and 5-speed models.

My guess is the Vista Torino 400 with the Stik-shift came about around 1968, after Schwinn added this feature to the Sting-Ray in 1967. Does this sound about right to you? I'm clearly no expert, but am trying to piece together the facts I can find.

I'm definitely writing about how kids started modifying Sting-Rays and other muscle bikes and how that morphed into BMX. How are you able to tell this bike was modified in the 80s? (The type of seat, the angle?) And what indicates it was never raced? (These details are useful.)

Thanks again for your help!

I had a couple of forum members PM me and we had great conversations by phone. Really appreciate those who reached out. I want to get it right!

Kim

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Given that there were models offered with 3 speeds and 5 speeds and that the '500' was the top of the line, I would guess that the '400' may have been the base model with a single speed coaster brake hub. Logically you would think that '300' would be the base and it would move up numerically, but the ad above shows the bike with a stick shift and indicates that it is a 'Torino 300'. This makes me believe that 300 may have indicated 3 speed and 500 indicated 5 speed. That would leave '400' (which is clearly marked on the chain guard of your bike) to be the single speed offering. Plus, depending on when the shifter was removed (if it was), the paint would not be as faded on the top tube leaving a mark where the shifter used to be. Oddly, the top tube in your photo is the exact opposite in that area. The only explanation I can think of for that would be that it has a decal in that spot that has completely faded to white.

I believe that @CRASH concluded that it was modded in the eighties because of the plastic saddle, the grips and the bars look to be from that era. He can correct me on that if I'm wrong.

Good luck!

 

[RideMC3]

I'm so glad you pointed that out! I was thinking it was a three-speed that had been converted to singlespeed, but this clearly makes more sense.

Do you think it's safe to conclude the Vista Torino came out in 1968? That's the year the Ford Torino debuted, and the ad I bought was labeled (on eBay, though no indication on the print ad itself) as an ad from a 1968 Boy's Life. It couldn't have been any earlier. But could it perhaps have been 1969?

Thanks for all the help. I couldn't get it right without the help of experts.

 

[RideMC3]

Can anyone help me with names of other Schwinn Sting-Ray knockoffs that were around in 1968?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I'm so glad you pointed that out! I was thinking it was a three-speed that had been converted to singlespeed, but this clearly makes more sense.

Do you think it's safe to conclude the Vista Torino came out in 1968? That's the year the Ford Torino debuted, and the ad I bought was labeled (on eBay, though no indication on the print ad itself) as an ad from a 1968 Boy's Life. It couldn't have been any earlier. But could it perhaps have been 1969?

Thanks for all the help. I couldn't get it right without the help of experts.

The newest versions of automobiles are released several months before the new calendar year begins. So, without knowing the month of the Boy's Life ad, there would have been as much as a 15(+-) month window for the bicycle to debut using the same name during that year. That doesn't answer your question, but it does sound plausible that it came out in 1968 if indeed they copied the name of the car.

 

[CRASH]

Kim, the MC3 in your handle... that wouldn't be Mass Communication Specialist, 3rd Class, would it?

What TRM said was correct, I was basing my estimation of the year modified by the seat and the grips. I'm guessing it was never raced because of the condition. The wheels weren't replaced, and those wheels look like stock, which were pretty heavy and not very good. And the rest of the bike doesn't look worn out from racing. Plus, from a guy who raced (and races) bikes, light-weight is worth gold. So if I wanted to race that bike in the 80's, first, I wouldn't have started with such a heavy frame. But if i had to, I would have at least taken off the chain guard and tried to replace the wheels. My guess is that someone had this Torino and modified it for a kid as a present because he wanted a BMX bike, but the money wasn't there for a new one.

As far as Sting-Ray 'Knock-offs'... that term is going to start a fight. There were a lot of other bikes that were similar, and there's actually a pretty deep history of models, actually, if you want to get technical, the Sting-Ray was a 'knock off' of the Huffy Penguin which came out in late '62 based on modified kid cruisers like the Schwinn Typhoon. Kids in Southern California wanted something cool and different and started putting high rise bars and polo seats on their bikes. They were dubbed 'Pig Bikes'. The designer of the Penguin saw that realized the trend and tried to ride it on his own, but made a bad deal and got shut out. Anyway, Schwinn saw the instant success of the Penguin and scrambled to put a bike on the street. Hence, the Sting Ray.
Anyway, there's a ton of others. While I don't own this book, I've heard it's good, even though the writer leans a lot on Schwinn. It may have some info on the Vistas.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stingray-Mu...674683?hash=item1c63932fbb:g:moIAAOSwdpxUWw03