1966 Violet Schwinn Collegiate
June 1966, to be more specific. One of the rarest of Schwinn colors, and rarely seen on men’s frames. I guess that guys just didn’t go for this color, but I love it. My iphone photo doesn’t really do it justice. I saw this bike today in an antique store down on Riverfront Blvd. (formerly Industrial) in the Dallas Design District:
I include it here mainly because I have literally never seen a Schwinn this color in real life, although I have desired one for quite some time, and drooled over them on ebay, schwinn.com, etc. When I saw it from a distance and realized that it was a violet Schwinn, my heart went all pitter-patter. Oh goodness! Unfortunately, though, the bike was in terrible shape. It literally had spots on it where the paint was worn away down to the bare silver metal frame. I think that someone at some point got rid of some surface rust on the paint by taking it down to the metal. It is also a 20 inch (small) frame and the guy wanted $125 for it. The bike was all there, and could be a rider, albeit a bit of a beater. I tracked down the seller in this place, and tried to talk him down, but he wasn’t going for it.
I’m not sure what I would pay for it. $20? $30? They’re pretty rare.
What do you think?
-Hubbard
IF you buy a crappy “rare” bike (and it could be argued that there are only a handful of rare Schwinns) it is almost guaranteed that you will find a nicer version very shortly.
Justin-
You’re absolutely right. I know that I’ll find my violet Schwinn bike one of these days. Now, my real Schwinn fantasy involves a chrome framed Paramount at a garage sale…..
and if you’re talking really rare Schwinn colors and bikes? A 1977 Schwinn Town and Country Tri-Wheeler in “Flamingo”. They only offered the color for the first half of 1977, and god only knows how many trikes they made. There was one on ebay last year that sold for $800. I’d buy a woman’s frame bike in that color and wear a dress when I rode it.
Maybe.
-Hubbard