1952 S-4 Schwinn

[jd56]

The odd serial number would suggest that it's most likely a late 1990's reproduction. I'd be willing to take it off your hands though cause it's still a decent looking Chinese knock off.

Send me an email, we'll talk.

Jim...you're not helping the mystery novel at all. At this rate there will be no last chapter....but I do appreciate the slapstick humor .
And Jason I never thought much about the earlier "A-C" lost serial number prefixes.
At this point without further investigation I will recategorized this as a 48....but the investigation isn't finished yet.


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[jd56]

OK....so I had to call the original owner back today to dig a little deeper into his past.
I of course explained the the question was what year he got it and what he knew again about why this bike was the Xmas gift.
Given the serial number location was and is the key point, I explained to him.
He says its possible it was a year or two earlier than he remembered. His Dad bought the bike after a long search because the son ( the owner ) fell in love with his uncles bike. It too was a whizzer frame S4 and did not have the motor either. Fully loaded without any lights. Essentially the exact same bike as I bought. Blue / Ivory 26" heavy duty rimmed bike. His uncle rode his hard to work everyday. By the way he recalls that his uncles bike was a 1948 model. He recalls being younger than 11 when he fell in love with the bike. And bugged his dad for the same thing.
But the son wanted the exact bike.....so dads search was on. He found one in Norfolk Va. At the a Givens store...which still is in business but its a trucking company and a warehouse now.

So he says it was imperative that he get the exact same bike and if these were a rare special order bike then dad may have had a hard time locating one.

SO....I know believe that JP was right and this has to be a 1948 model.
Wheeeew.....I'm exhausted but even more pleased to get deeper into the history.

And sorry Jim....not a repop. And for sure it won't be leaving the schwinn herd for a long time.
Now to clean him up and service the bearings.
OH and he also said that the Hbar are what came on the bike. He also never cut them or turned them over like some thought.


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[jd56]

Finally.
Have posted these pics on the other sites but,
I'm really pleased with the cleanup.
So here is what I started with and ended up with.
I'm beaming with pride to own this one.

From this

To this

 

[deorman]