1952 Panther

[DrRumack80]

Seeing @the tinker 's Panther motivated me to pull out mine. This was the first real balloon tire bike I purchased back in 1997. Fresh out of college working my first job, I finally had some money to plow into the hobby.

I first saw it listed among the items for sale at a garage sale in town. Getting there bright and early but trying not to look too interested, I casually asked "How much for the Panther?" The seller replied "Someone is going to give me a lot of money today for this bike!!!" Well, I held on to my wallet and left!

Fast forward 6 months later, to December, the bike wandered into my local Schwinn dealership. The seller's approach to marketing the bike had failed and he decided to sell it on consignment at the shop (where it had been purchased new 45 years earlier!) I plunked down $450, after trading in a '55 Spitfire girls bike, and it was mine

The bike is original except for the tires, decals and striping on the tank, and decal on the guard, which were replaced by the owner of the Schwinn dealership. Tires are USA Typhoons that I added later. I was never 100% sure on the chrome Rocket Ray, though, but it is a USA-made original.

Sorry for the lousy garage pics.

Scimeca's Bicycle Shop, Bayonne, NJ dealer decal.

Scimeca's, which opened in this building c.1920, became Eddy's Cycle City in 1971. It closed in 2019. Really, really miss this place.

 

[danilo1219]

me tooo

 

[1439Mike]

Great bike! Thx for sharing the pictures and the story. Congrats

 

[Fiftysschwinn]

Love the backstory’s to great finds! Your Panther is a beauty!

 

[JBone]

GREAT story and a fine looking Panther! Thank You

 

[1817cent]

Thats a very nice bike! Glad you held on to it!

 

[DrRumack80]

Thanks for the replies and compliments! I've been thinning out my collection and had mulled letting this one go, but I don't think I can. My mother and uncles grew up in that town in the 40's-50's. Maybe one of them saw this bike bombing down the sidewalk when they were kids. Maybe it belonged to one of their friends. You never know. LOL The local connection alone makes this bike special. Buying it from the same shop where it was sold new also adds to the cool factor.

I'm thinking of putting it on the road and cruising around with it a bit. Definitely need to get new tires, as riding on near 70 year-old Typhoons would not be good for very long. Also have to get a longer seatpost. At 6'1", the Panther's 18" frame is a bit small. 😁 The saddle has to go up about another 4 inches from where it is now.

Maybe a laid-back BMX post will get the saddle to a point where I get enough leg extension without making the bike look too stupid.