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What do I have here?

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izee2

Finally riding a big boys bike
Need some help. I picked up this bike on Sat. From what I can tell it is a Columbia/westfield bike model Vg 296. I thought that they were a wartime produced civilian bike. It looks to be original paint with a aftermarket chain guard and a replaced chain ring. The seat and grips are also added. The paint on the frame and rims seems to be original but it is OD green. I have seen some ad's that show this style bike being used as a military issued/used bike. Is it possible that that is what it is? The serial number W173905. That number isn't shown in the 40's range. The welds are all the heavy, not to well done style of the MG columbias. Any help in with this bike would be greatly appreciated.

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First hunch... A 1971-72 era bike painted OD to look like a WW2 M306???

BTW should be picking up an all Original G-numbered VG296 within the next two weeks... Will post pictures for comparison

Cheers,

Johan
 
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Not a post war bike.
With the chain adjusters on the rear drop outs and peaked fenders it looks prewar.
I don't think it is OD niether. It looks more like a teal color that has faded real bad. In one of the pictures I seen a spot of shinny paint that was much darker than olive drab green. First thought is Schwinn. I will do some digging to see what I come up with.
JKent
 
Hey Johan,

Not sure about this bike being from the 70's Im still leaning to this being a 40' era bike.

Pics of yours would be great....can't wait to see them.

Here are a couple more pics.

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1944 wartime Columbia civilian bike. The serial number is in the 44 range. Bad welds on frame typical of these bikes.
 
This is the Schwinn I was thinking about.
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1939 B09
But I think Mr. Columbia has it right.
 
Oops I should have typed a 1950s number...

But if it's really 1944, why doesn't the numer match the Columbia number lists? Or am I missing something?
 
Oops I should have typed a 1950s number...

But if it's really 1944, why doesn't the numer match the Columbia number lists? Or am I missing something?

You are not really missing anything, it's just that the number ranges on these Westfield provided charts are sketchy at best. I have seen this a lot where they are one entire digit off from bikes that are obviously from that year. The "W" matches up perfectly with the frame style, rough welds, blackout hub, etc.

Any way you look at it this model is not a 50's as the serial number would be on one of the rear drop outs if it was and the frame would be brazed, not welded. This style frame was not available in 1954, the year that seems to match up with the serial number.

My best guess for this anomaly is poor quality control during the stamping process and an extra digit getting stamped. That or a typo in record keeping.
 
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