Oilit
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
This bike has rust and wear, but is pretty complete, and this frame style only shows up for a couple of years. It's similar to the Schwinn cantilever frame at first glance, but probably different enough to avoid patent infringement. It seems to be AMF's Shelby middleweight, or at least I've never seen this frame with a Roadmaster badge. AMF was keeping the two makes separate at this point, I've seen a couple of '50's Roadmaster catalogs and brochures, and they don't include the Shelby models. Unfortunately I haven't seen an AMF Shelby catalog, so I'm not sure when they started making this frame, '55 or '56 is my best guess. After AMF went to the cantilever frame in 1958, the Shelbys and Roadmasters all look to have been built on the same frames.
Whether it was supposed to be a Shelby or not, AMF would still build it with any retail badge you wanted. @Mr. Monkeyarms posted a nice one badged "American Flyer" in this thread (post #132), and his has a Bendix two speed!
Whether it was supposed to be a Shelby or not, AMF would still build it with any retail badge you wanted. @Mr. Monkeyarms posted a nice one badged "American Flyer" in this thread (post #132), and his has a Bendix two speed!