Jay81
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
I have this P.O.S. (Pretty Old Schwinn, what the heck did you think P.O.S. stood for?) and from the research I've done, I think it may be a 1936, but I'd like any pre-war Schwinn "experts" to chime in. Here's a little history on it. I bought it from my brother. He was told a farmer converted it to its current "moped" state years ago. It was powered by an old (1930's?) gas washing machine engine (didn't know there was such a thing, but found some cool videos on youtube)
In a way, I'd really like to convert it back to a bicycle, but with the "modifications" it would be very difficult to say the least. The steel plate that the engine sits on is welded to the frame, as is the seat post. The rear of the frame also appears to have been widened to accommodate the rear wheel. The rear brake is kinda cool, you apply downward pressure on the pedal, and the spring loaded contraption on the back has a piece of rubber fastened to it which contacts the rear tire.
Some things worth noting are:
the straight back lock on the fork (and the lock still works!)
flat fender braces and drop center front wheel
Excelsior badge
The serial number is S22630 and appears to be the larger, irregularly stamped numbers (hand stamped???)
The "S" of the serial number appears to be upside down
So, given the modifications that have been done, I think what I'm going to do is clean it up some (looks like there's some decent original paint left under the coating of rust) and see if it'll run again and embrace it for what it is, a vintage, rat rod, home-made moped.
Any help I can get dating it is much appreciated!
In a way, I'd really like to convert it back to a bicycle, but with the "modifications" it would be very difficult to say the least. The steel plate that the engine sits on is welded to the frame, as is the seat post. The rear of the frame also appears to have been widened to accommodate the rear wheel. The rear brake is kinda cool, you apply downward pressure on the pedal, and the spring loaded contraption on the back has a piece of rubber fastened to it which contacts the rear tire.
Some things worth noting are:
the straight back lock on the fork (and the lock still works!)
flat fender braces and drop center front wheel
Excelsior badge
The serial number is S22630 and appears to be the larger, irregularly stamped numbers (hand stamped???)
The "S" of the serial number appears to be upside down
So, given the modifications that have been done, I think what I'm going to do is clean it up some (looks like there's some decent original paint left under the coating of rust) and see if it'll run again and embrace it for what it is, a vintage, rat rod, home-made moped.
Any help I can get dating it is much appreciated!
