# 1958 Schwinn Phantom owners and experts!!  Help!!!



## crazyhawk (Dec 16, 2018)

If you know your stuff, please chime in on this.  These pics are of my 1958 Phantom.  The decal is not the one you see on most years of phantoms and, of course,  not a '59.  Every original '58 phantom I see has this decal, with the looped S and no tail on the n, like you see on '58 Tornadoes.  Last time I posted this,  I was told it was not correct.  I say it is.  I just haven't seen this discussion before.  What do you think?


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## phantom (Dec 16, 2018)

I have never really took notice before, except for the 59's. Here are pics of a 58 Phantom tank and a 58 Hornet tank.....I wouldn't argue that maybe Schwinn had a unique decal to 58.


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## crazyhawk (Dec 16, 2018)

Thanks for those pics, phantom.  Hopefully, we can get a few more cabers to post!  I know phantoms aren't the most popular bikes right now, but I still love 'em(well, original ones anyway).


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## Driftpr (Dec 16, 2018)

Honest opinion I’ve only seen them on tornados here’s my original paint with the decal.


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## vincev (Dec 16, 2018)

I am not an expert but I think the decals were replaced.Seems like a lot of the white pinstripe is covered by the decal on the horn side.


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## island schwinn (Dec 16, 2018)

They seem to have the speedlines. I agree they may have been replaced.


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## GTs58 (Dec 16, 2018)

After looking at 10,000 different Phantom pictures I've noticed 4 different style tank decals including the first year's model before the change. None that I saw had the speed lines and the S's on some were similar like on Bob's 54 here. Some with that style S did not have the tail at the last N and some did. Some had a completely different style S and no tail on the N. What a nightmare.  
Now check out the tank decal detailing on all three images in the 1955 paint chart. How many styles do you see?  

Many of the bikes that I viewed that still had a visible decal were repainted or had repainted tanks and new decals. One Opal Green bike was sold here and it was said to have original paint. The Cabe member that purchased it then tried to resell it here later and that is when others informed him that the tank has been repainted,  and obviously redecaled. We all know paint does not stick to chrome all that well so how many of these Phantoms have been messed with, especially the tanks?  Say you have a nice original paint Phantom and the tank paint is falling off. Lets do a tank repaint to bring it up to the paint condition that's on the frame.
If that Phantom decal with the speed lines is in fact original to the tank, then I would have to assume that they F'd up at the Factory when they changed the decaling installation process from the new 58 Tornado tanks to the 58 Phantom tanks.


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## crazyhawk (Dec 17, 2018)

here's what I found on the cabe.  Both original '58's.View attachment 920593
View attachment 920595


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## crazyhawk (Dec 17, 2018)

Yes, I guess that decal must've been redone.  Thanks for helping me figure it out.


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## GTs58 (May 12, 2019)

Thanks for not giving up on this issue! With that new for sale listing of the Candy Apple Red 1958 Phantom, I decided to further my research just a little. You finally figured out the correct year of your Phantom and the serial number was stamped late October 1958. On this Candy Apple Phantom the serial number was stamped on 10/30/58 ----- K809073 ------ K832274. This piece was another late model year production. Now taking into consideration that the date of the serial is not the production date, but the date the serial was stamped on the bikes component before it was used to build a frame. These Phantoms with the Tornado tank decals could have been the last 58 Phantoms to have actually been built. I learned a few things from keeping the Corvette 5 speed Registry and a couple of those things was Schwinn built certain models in batches and the normal model year change over most always started with the bikes wearing a November serial number. The different models did not have a continuous daily, weekly or monthly production and in the case of the 5 speed Corvettes there were months with no production. The Tornado was introduced for dealer sales before Christmas 1957, but those were not tank models. The 58 Deluxe Tornado with tank came about later in 1958 and I'm not sure if the decal used on the Tornado was specific to just the Tornado. 

For years on end I came across late year 1958 Corvettes and 1958 Jaguars equipped with the new dual stage Mayweg front carrier. I chocked those off as bikes that were modified by some of the owners because that new Mayweg rack appeared on the new 1959 models. I later found out these late 58 models were actually factory equipped with that new style Mayweg carrier when I came across a last quarter Christmas 58 comic book add for the 58 Jaguar.  





*So taking all this into consideration, I would say that the last batch or maybe two of the 1958 Phantoms could have actually had the Tornado tank decal if for some reason the regular Phantom tank decals were no longer in stock or being made due to the upcoming changes that were planned for just about every one of the new 1959 models that had all new decals and screenings.  *


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## crazyhawk (May 13, 2019)

Thanks for looking into it.  It's hard to believe that such a popular Schwinn model may still have some secrets waiting to be discovered.  Your investigating abilities are really an asset to this crazy hobby!!  And get a load of this.  My Black Phantom's date, Oct 31, 1958.


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## GTs58 (May 13, 2019)

crazyhawk said:


> Thanks for looking into it.  It's hard to believe that such a popular Schwinn model may still have some secrets waiting to be discovered.  Your investigating abilities are really an asset to this crazy hobby!!  And get a load of this.  My Black Phantom's date, Oct 31, 1958.View attachment 997271





Interesting! That number was stamped on the last day they used the K letter. Wonder if that was the very last batch of Phantoms produced for the 58 model year. November numbers started with L numbers so keep an eye out for any 58's with an L serial and that tank decal. At this point, I'm thinking that tank decal was used only on the late October SN'd Phantoms.


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## crazyhawk (May 13, 2019)

That's a great theory and I'm going to spend time trying to unravel that timeline. The L letter SN bikes could have been the start of the '59 decals.  The standard decal may have been switched to the Tornado style like you said, in October or even a bit earlier.  It's such a challenge with Phantoms because nobody seems to be able to leave them alone.  So many survived and have been restored incorrectly, and so much aftermarket stuff has been made.  It's like the Phantom has become a meme in the hobby and it doesn't deserve that fate.  Let's re-write the history of some of these bikes!


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## C M Gerlach (Jan 29, 2022)

another original 1958.


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