New Mexico Brant
I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
Original paint 1929 "The Lindy"
Manufactured by Shelby Cycle Company, Shelby, Ohio
Serial number: D37457
Year: 1929
Provenance:
-Ohio farmer, purchased The Lindy in 1956 from a scrap metal dealer.
-Collection of Larkin Little, Baltimore, Maryland.
-Brant Mackley, purchased at the Hershey Auto Swap Meet, October, 2021.
Oral history by Larkin Little:
“Back in the day, there was a swap meet in Bucyrus, Ohio (mid 1990’s). Early in the morning an old Chevy truck showed up loaded with bicycles. No one knew the owner or saw this guy before. On the load was an overpainted round (cigar) tank Shelby. I ended up buying that bike, off the truck, for $500 and I can tell you, several bicycle guys were really mad! A bit of verbal ruckus was made about this purchase by the crowd. After the gentleman fully unloaded his Chevy, and the crowds dispersed, he approached me and asked what was so special about the round tank bicycle? I told him it could be made into a Lindy. He then said, “if you like Lindy bicycles my father has one back at the farm.” I visited his father’s house, after the swap, and made a generous offer. This fellow did not want to sell it at that time because he owned it for so long; he bought it back in 1956 from a scrape metal guy. Anyway, I told him to write my phone on his wall and if he ever decided part with the bicycle to please let me know. A few months later I got a call and he was ready to sell!” October 2021 & January 1, 2024
Manufactured by Shelby Cycle Company, Shelby, Ohio
Serial number: D37457
Year: 1929
Provenance:
-Ohio farmer, purchased The Lindy in 1956 from a scrap metal dealer.
-Collection of Larkin Little, Baltimore, Maryland.
-Brant Mackley, purchased at the Hershey Auto Swap Meet, October, 2021.
Oral history by Larkin Little:
“Back in the day, there was a swap meet in Bucyrus, Ohio (mid 1990’s). Early in the morning an old Chevy truck showed up loaded with bicycles. No one knew the owner or saw this guy before. On the load was an overpainted round (cigar) tank Shelby. I ended up buying that bike, off the truck, for $500 and I can tell you, several bicycle guys were really mad! A bit of verbal ruckus was made about this purchase by the crowd. After the gentleman fully unloaded his Chevy, and the crowds dispersed, he approached me and asked what was so special about the round tank bicycle? I told him it could be made into a Lindy. He then said, “if you like Lindy bicycles my father has one back at the farm.” I visited his father’s house, after the swap, and made a generous offer. This fellow did not want to sell it at that time because he owned it for so long; he bought it back in 1956 from a scrape metal guy. Anyway, I told him to write my phone on his wall and if he ever decided part with the bicycle to please let me know. A few months later I got a call and he was ready to sell!” October 2021 & January 1, 2024
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Thanks for the great pictures and backstory. Wow, just Wow ! 
