# Schwinn Corvette



## Kramai88 (Mar 27, 2020)

Picked up this Corvette project today. It has a weird serial number but I think it might be a 57. I’ll start doing some cleanup and see how it turns out. 


















Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Roger Henning (Mar 27, 2020)

It most likely is a 1957 and if also looks like a number (third one) was not stamped where it should have been. Roger


----------



## Rollo (Mar 27, 2020)

... Nice! ... hard to find with the original seat and headlight ...


----------



## Adamtinkerer (Mar 28, 2020)

Yep, looks like '57 features. They must've been braking Fred Flintstone style!!


----------



## Oilit (Mar 30, 2020)

That's an unusual thumb shift. I've seen pictures of them on Schwinns, but not many. Is your rear hub a Sturmey-Archer or one of the "Schwinn Approved - Made in Austria" versions?
Good find!


----------



## Rollo (Mar 30, 2020)

... Here's a pic of the '57 that I found last summer ... but I had to track down the light and seat ...


----------



## Kramai88 (Mar 30, 2020)

Oilit said:


> That's an unusual thumb shift. I've seen pictures of them on Schwinns, but not many. Is your rear hub a Sturmey-Archer or one of the "Schwinn Approved - Made in Austria" versions?
> Good find!




Made in Austria Schwinn Approved 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Oilit (Apr 1, 2020)

Kramai88 said:


> Made in Austria Schwinn Approved
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I've heard that the Made in Austria units were used in 1959, after Sturmey-Archer dropped the trouble-prone SW hub and went back to the AW, because it took them a while to get back to full production. But Schwinn had already built bikes with SW hubs (I've got one of them, a 1958 Tiger), so I'm wondering if they went back and replaced some of the earlier hubs under warranty with the Austrian hubs. It's pure speculation on my part, but it seems plausible. Does anyone have any documented information?


----------



## Roger Henning (Apr 1, 2020)

Could have been a bike shop replacement for a broken other hub.  In the last 61 years who knows when it happened.  Roger


----------



## GTs58 (Apr 1, 2020)

_*1958 Schwinn Reporter:

"Sturmey-Archer SW hubs will not be available after 10/24/58. Models which used this hub will have Schwinn Approved hubs installed instead. The SW will be available again on 1/1/59."*_ 

The availability date must have been pushed to a much later date for some reason.


----------



## Oilit (Apr 4, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> _*1958 Schwinn Reporter:
> 
> "Sturmey-Archer SW hubs will not be available after 10/24/58. Models which used this hub will have Schwinn Approved hubs installed instead. The SW will be available again on 1/1/59."*_
> 
> The availability date must have been pushed to a much later date for some reason.



I believe Sturmey-Archer dropped the SW after 1958, so it sounds like there was a failure to communicate. I probably need to get Hadland's book, that might have some information.


----------



## Oilit (Apr 4, 2020)

Roger Henning said:


> Could have been a bike shop replacement for a broken other hub.  In the last 61 years who knows when it happened.  Roger



If they replaced it with a Schwinn Approved Austrian hub, then it had to be in the late '50's or early '60's, I don't think they were available very long. It could have been used when it was swapped in, but I think that shifter is also Austrian, and pretty rare. The oval version seems to be more common.


----------



## Kramai88 (Apr 4, 2020)

Here’s a picture of the hub and shifter after some cleaning 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## GTs58 (Apr 4, 2020)

Cool shifter! Can't say if I've ever seen one like that.


----------



## Oilit (Apr 6, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> Cool shifter! Can't say if I've ever seen one like that.



I've only seen one or two others, and only in pictures, and I'm not even certain it's Austrian, but if anybody knows the story, feel free to share!


----------



## Kramai88 (Apr 11, 2020)

Finished the service and clean up on the Corvette today. 















Did end up removing the original seat 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Rollo (Apr 11, 2020)

... Nice job! ... headlight cleaned up pretty good ...


----------



## Sven (Apr 12, 2020)

Cleaned up very nicely. Great job.


----------



## GTs58 (Apr 12, 2020)

Was the crash bar on the original seat transplanted to that new seat?


----------



## Kramai88 (Apr 12, 2020)

GTs58 said:


> Was the crash bar on the original seat transplanted to that new seat?




It was not. The one I had laying around had a crash bar


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------

