# His & Hers 3 Speed Corvettes



## Jay81 (Feb 13, 2016)

Just wanted to show off my his & hers 3 speed Corvettes. I bought the men's '56 over the summer, its kind of rough but its a nice rider and one of my favorite bikes to ride. I know the rear rack don't belong on there but it came with the bike and I haven't had a chance to remove it yet. Today I picked up the matching '55 ladies Corvette for my wife. It's in pretty nice shape, just needs tubes, lube and a light cleaning. Sorry these are the only pics I currently have of them, but when it warms up I'll pull them out and get some pics of them together.


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## GTs58 (Feb 13, 2016)

Curious about the serial number on the Lady's Corvette, late 55 number? Seat and front rack appear to be 56=57. It's also had the chain guard replaced and rear brake cable rerouted. The guard should have a cable clip riveted on it, as seen on just about all 55 models including the boys.


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## mruiz (Feb 14, 2016)

I agree the seat for 55 would be brown.


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## spoker (Feb 14, 2016)

55,56 seat


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## spoker (Feb 14, 2016)

interesting,the early chain guards had the rear rivit for the rear braket on the vert rear edge of the guard[they were the guards used on new worlds]the mounting hole is farther back on the frame to accomodate the older chainguard,and yes all the early guards came with the cable clp on top of the chain guard,they just didnt use iton the boys,early vettes used the same brake handles as the ballooner jags,both seats are from later lightweights


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## GTs58 (Feb 14, 2016)

Wow, some really distorted info there. Better hit the refresh button.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

says who?


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

seat looks familiar no?


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## Schwinn499 (Feb 15, 2016)

spoker said:


> seat looks familiar no?



All three seats are different.


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

I went a looked at a girl's Sept. '57 Vette in my shed, yeah that clip for the cable is pretty obvious, and missing on the one posted. I've never had a girl's that didn't have that clip, and never had a boy's that did - not to say Schwinn couldn't have subbed one out, it does match the condition of the rest of the bike, so who knows. I'd be curious on the s/n on this one too.
Darcie


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

the point on showing the travler seat was to illustrate how similar the seats on the 2 vettes are to the later light weights are,there are things on the 2 vettes that were not on the early ones,information given on the cabe can help espescially when members are buying,not bad mouthing the bikes just supplying info


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

here is a later chainguard,notice how far the rear rivit is from the rear edge of the guard,the early[new world and travler]had the rear rivit for the rear mount mounted almost to the end of the rear edge,the front mount hole to rear hole are ifferent for early and late


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

dont know i the rear of the guard shows up but heres the early brake handles and seat


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## Intense One (Feb 15, 2016)

I have 2 '57 Schwinn Corvettes too.  Boys is blue; girls is black.   They have the 2 color seats with crash bars and pretty much everything your bikes have except a rear rack and no cable bracket for a cable on either chainguards.  They do have the front racks and 3 speed trannys and front a rear caliper brakes, too.


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## Intense One (Feb 15, 2016)

GTs58 said:


> Curious about the serial number on the Lady's Corvette, late 55 number? Seat and front rack appear to be 56=57. It's also had the chain guard replaced and rear brake cable rerouted. The guard should have a cable clip riveted on it, as seen on just about all 55 models including the boys.



My serial numbers on my boys and girls Corvettes come up as '56 but both have 2 tone seats indicative of '57 Corvettes.


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

Intense One said:


> My serial numbers on my boys and girls Corvettes come up as '56 but both have 2 tone seats indicative of '57 Corvettes.




All the '56's I have had, have had the two tone seat, not the brown one.

Darcie


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

were they 2nd half of the year?late 56 and most 57 had 2 tone non s seat that was sewn,they fell apart alot,hard to find a 2 tone sewn seat thats og


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

here is a sewn 57,notice the line that seperates the 2 colors goes straight across the seat,later seats were not sewn and the line for the 2 colors has an angle to it


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

the seats that were sewn were done with cotton thread,cotton thread doesnt last in the environments,the seat on this boys bike looks like it is a late 56 or 57,the seat on the girls bike is not a schwinn,with rivits it could be a columba they are similar


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

spoker said:


> ....the seat on the girls bike is not a schwinn,with rivits it could be a columba they are similar




All the early girl's seats I've had were riveted, note Schwinn tag on the back, off a '56 girl's Vette.
Darcie


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

spoker said:


> here is a sewn 57,notice the line that seperates the 2 colors goes straight across the seat,later seats were not sewn and the line for the 2 colors has an angle to it




Interesting choice in their "model", he makes that bike look tiny!

Darcie


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

i guess my point was when i said the cotton thread seats didnt last long is that when they fell apart they were replaced,one thing to consider is that alot of changes happened b4 bikes were collector items,thats a nice seat and yes a schwinn,but imho a replacement,how many 57 seats have you had that were og and rivited,anythings possible,but i havent seen og 57 rivited seats,if i was gonna buy a 57 w/o a cotton nonrivit seat i would consider it not correct


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

heres a good pic of a 56 

chain guard rear rivit place ment and mounting tab


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## Adamtinkerer (Feb 15, 2016)

I have a boys black 'vette, with a '54 build date, it has the clip on the guard, seen a couple others like that, as well as single speed ladies' with it. Much like the hand brake rear fender bridge, they didn't exclusively save them for the equipped models.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

speedster


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## Intense One (Feb 15, 2016)

Nickinator said:


> All the early girl's seats I've had were riveted, note Schwinn tag on the back, off a '56 girl's Vette.
> Darcie
> 
> View attachment 285916
> ...



Both of my '56-57 Corvettes have those 2 tone stitched seats and yes, the stitching has failed at the stitching line.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

Intense One said:


> Both of my '56-57 Corvettes have those 2 tone stitched seats and yes, the stitching has failed at the stitching line.



pics?thanks!


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## Intense One (Feb 15, 2016)

Nickinator said:


> All the early girl's seats I've had were riveted, note Schwinn tag on the back, off a '56 girl's Vette.
> Darcie
> 
> View attachment 285916
> ...





spoker said:


> pics?thanks!



im up in NH right now but will send the bike pics tomorrow...."Every picture tells a story"


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

Well, all this seat info and nobody can come up with the correct seat for the1955 girls Corvette? Darcie is correct on the two tone sewn seats for 56 and 57, and this also includes the boys models. If you're into the Corvette models like I am, you will see that many of the 55 boys models were also wearing a cable clip on the guard. Odd but true.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

yep ur right schwinn just had on design chainguard to keep things simple,i agree with the 2 tone seat but disagree that they ever had rivits on theoriginals


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

spoker said:


> yep ur right schwinn just had on design chainguard to keep things simple,i agree with the 2 tone seat but disagree that they ever had rivits on theoriginals




You can disagree all you want, but don't spread no false rumors. The proof and reality is posted in this thread.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

show me the documentation be fore you start talkin about your false bull!! if you think that a seat thats on a bike has to be the one it came with you dont know what your doing


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

Here is a link to the similar styled Columbia seat, I've had this seat too- actually was on a girl's Vette, but it is a hard plastic seat, not a cloth one, and of course no Schwinn tag. And FYI- I have had 3 of the cloth riveted ones, on early girl's Vettes.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50s-ORANGE-...WAY-PATROL-BICYCLE-RACK-SCHWINN-/121748309717
As an aside, look at that description! From the Twins.....I feel crazy just reading it!

Darcie


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

Here is an OG 1955 girls Corvette. http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1954-schwinn-corvette-3-speed-girls.74086/#post-459013


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## Nickinator (Feb 15, 2016)

GTs58 said:


> Here is an OG 1955 girls Corvette. http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1954-schwinn-corvette-3-speed-girls.74086/#post-459013




Interesting! Not even close to the boy's, I like this one better. 
Doing some research, I found some that did look very similar to the boy's, in brown, makes me think Schwinn was using a few different seats in those early years, on the girl's bike for sure.
Darcie


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

Here's the 1956 catalog picture. Notice the one year only (1955) front rack legs that go down deep past the bottom of the fender. The bike pictured is actually a 1955 model.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

that rack with the front steel piece and farther forward legs was used till 58


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

i thought this was a seat mounted on a bikehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/like/331766063957?ul_noapp=true&chn=ps&lpid=82


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

debbie dont like rivits


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

The 1957 catalog shows two versions of the two tone girls seat. One with a crash rail and one without. The photography artist forgot to paint rivet dots and the crash rail.


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

yep darcie ypur right,58 was plastic,it was a one year non s seat


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## GTs58 (Feb 15, 2016)

spoker said:


> yep ur right schwinn just had on design chainguard to keep things simple,i agree with the 2 tone seat but disagree that they ever had rivits on theoriginals




Do you remember Harpo's 57 girls he posted in your thread? Beautiful seat. By the way, I never said these cheap two tone Mesinger seats came without rivets, just that they came on the 56 and 57 models. Both types apply.  http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/57-corvette.71610/#post-441830


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## spoker (Feb 15, 2016)

yep nice seat,if i was gonna go a late 56 or 57 vette or jag i would accept it as gennie


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## Dan the bike man (Feb 16, 2016)

This thread is a good example of why some don't collect Schwinn's. "That's the wrong seat, wrong bolt, etc etc." LOL 3 pages on what seat it should have. People getting upset. I collect all kinds of brands, Schwinn and otherwise. My 56 mens Vette has a modern seat. It does it's job good of supporting by rump. The modern seat is more comfy than the original seat would be anyway. Schwinn guys would lose their minds if they saw it. lol. 
 Nice bikes brother! We will have to ride our vettes together.


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## Jay81 (Feb 16, 2016)

Well I wasn't too concerned whether all the parts were correct since I got a good deal. But here's some more info. The men's serial number comes back as 6/27/56. The seat on the men's is a Troxel which I figured was incorrect anyway. The ladies vette is 11/29/55 so most likely it was sold as a 1956. The seat on the ladies has the Schwinn Approved tag on the back of it. I did not see any evidence of the chainguard ever having that little clip for the cable. The guy I bought the ladies bike from told me he bought it from the original owner, and supposedly the bike is all original. (I know, just because he was told it was all original doesn't necessarily mean its true) Either way, the ladies seat has a busted spring and the center seam is split so I'm gonna have to find a different seat for it so my wife can ride it.


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## spoker (Feb 16, 2016)

Jay81 said:


> Well I wasn't too concerned whether all the parts were correct since I got a good deal. But here's some more info. The men's serial number comes back as 6/27/56. The seat on the men's is a Troxel which I figured was incorrect anyway. The ladies vette is 11/29/55 so most likely it was sold as a 1956. The seat on the ladies has the Schwinn Approved tag on the back of it. I did not see any evidence of the chainguard ever having that little clip for the cable. The guy I bought the ladies bike from told me he bought it from the original owner, and supposedly the bike is all original. (I know, just because he was told it was all original doesn't necessarily mean its true) Either way, the ladies seat has a busted spring and the center seam is split so I'm gonna have to find a different seat for it so my wife can ride it.



on old bikes one can usualy get somewhat close on what parts are original,but these bikes were in use b4 the collector thing came about so alot of things were changed over the year,thanks 4 suppling the date codes


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## GTs58 (Feb 16, 2016)

Dan the bike man said:


> This thread is a good example of why some don't collect Schwinn's. "That's the wrong seat, wrong bolt, etc etc." LOL 3 pages on what seat it should have. People getting upset. I collect all kinds of brands, Schwinn and otherwise. My 56 mens Vette has a modern seat. It does it's job good of supporting by rump. The modern seat is more comfy than the original seat would be anyway. Schwinn guys would lose their minds if they saw it. lol.
> Nice bikes brother! We will have to ride our vettes together.




Pfff.


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## spoker (Feb 16, 2016)

dan the bike man,your right 2 each there own,some get it some dont,alot of the enjoyment for some of us is figuring out the history of old bikes!!


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## Intense One (Feb 16, 2016)

Checked my 56-57 Corvettes and both the girls bike and the boys bike do not have a cable clamp on their chain guard.  Both seats are the same stitched 2 tones but noticed both seat tabs are missing on the backs.  You can see the rivets that used to hold them


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## GTs58 (Feb 16, 2016)

A 1955 boys Corvette with the cable clip. And info as to probably why it was on many of the 55 boys models. It was a lightweight guard before 1955 and the rear brake cable routing was done differently. Click in the missing picture in the attachments box. Schwinn made their guards and probably had thousands already made up before the 55 middleweights started in production.  

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/55-corvette-chain-guard-tab.60373/#post-362780  Check out Pantmakers  OG 55


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## spoker (Feb 16, 2016)

stand corrected on the rivited sewn seats,evidently the ones ive seen were trashed or alreadgy changed out because of failure,i wonder if rear rivit placement came along in early59?


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## Jimmy V (Feb 16, 2016)

I have a red 55 boys Vette. Mine has the cable clip on the guard.  I never noticed it.. learned something.  Mine has a brown riveted seat which appears original. It has the correct rack and fenders too. I picked it up last year.  It's in the collection for a future project.  I'd take a picture but it's hanging in the basement, and I need to read up on how to post pictures...


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## Dan the bike man (Feb 17, 2016)

My 56 when I first got it. I took off the horn and rack. Garage sale find, best riding bike I have!


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## Intense One (Feb 19, 2016)

Dan the bike man said:


> My 56 when I first got it. I took off the horn and rack. Garage sale find, best riding bike I have!
> 
> View attachment 286476



These are the only Corvettes I can afford!  Ray


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## Intense One (Feb 19, 2016)

GTs58 said:


> Pfff.





Dan the bike man said:


> This thread is a good example of why some don't collect Schwinn's. "That's the wrong seat, wrong bolt, etc etc." LOL 3 pages on what seat it should have. People getting upset. I collect all kinds of brands, Schwinn and otherwise. My 56 mens Vette has a modern seat. It does it's job good of supporting by rump. The modern seat is more comfy than the original seat would be anyway. Schwinn guys would lose their minds if they saw it. lol.
> Nice bikes brother! We will have to ride our vettes together.



Yes, sir Dan the Bike Man.....that would be awesome if we all could go cruisin' together on our Corvettes!


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