I love the Bowden Spacelander for the very same reasons many of you seem to hate it... it's fragile, impractical, and broke easily. The design was was so over-the-top kids wholeheartedly rejected it, and thought it was ugly. It was also reportedly more expensive than Schwinn's best offering, the Phantom, at $89.50.
I like it because it has transcended it's original intention as a bicycle, and has become art. That's right, I said it. Go ahead, get your torches and pitch forks... warm up the tar, and break open the bag of feathers. Personally, I love the reaction it gets. I like when people see my Higgins or Autocycle and say "what a neat old bike", but I LOVE it when people see the Bowden and say "what the HELL is that??!" They want to know all about it. Like good art, it makes you react.... positively, or negatively, there is an emotional reaction. When Picasso went to his abstract style from his early naturalistic style, many people hated it, and didn't get it at all. But with the passage of time, it has not only been accepted, but celebrated as genius. It is often said he was way ahead of his time... like old Ben Bowden, he was ahead of his time too.
The Spacelander may have been ugly, rejected, unpopular and almost an instant failure in 1960 when it came out, but 56 years later it represents a small glimpse into an era of design innovation that likely inspired many other things to come. Without design failures like the Spacelander, you would not have the successes... every design simply cannot be a winner; that contrast is what pushes things forward.
I can totally imagine riding down the block at dusk with dual, built-in head lights and tail lights glowing, looking like an alien spaceship floating along.... nothing like it. In reality, I have never ridden it, nor do I ever plan to, I have many other bikes I can ride; this one is strictly to look at. I'd probably bust this one on the first pedal with my fat arse if I tried to ride it... precisely why so few exist today.
Mine is an original in Cliffs of Dover white, which is cast in the fiberglass, not painted. It's a very low serial number (number 8 off the assembly line), possibly the lowest known. At the moment it's at my shop with several other very well known, and desirable vintage bicycles, but everyone, whether they know vintage bikes or not, goes straight for the Bowden when they see the group, flat out ignoring my Hextube Silver King, my Elgin Robin, my orig. paint JC Higgins batwing Color-flow, and Autocycle.
Since these photos, the seat has been changed out for the correct, original, Mertens saddle. All else is correct & original, including the Carlisle Airflyte tires.
The number of existing, original Spacelanders is said to be quite low, possibly under 50. It is said 522 were produced originally, but many broke or were otherwise destroyed. They have sold privately from $4K up to $20K (one sold at the Schwinn family auction in 2003 for that price). The few I have tracked prices of seem to be in the $12 to $15K range for a complete, correct, and damage free example.
Reproductions do exist, and tend to sell for $2500-$4K. They lack certain refinements of the originals, but are still quite cool, and pretty faithful representations.
Unusual, interesting, and avant garde the Spacelander speaks to a very narrow time in history when designers were pushing the envelope, and trying to show what the future could hold. Love it or hate it, the Bowden Spacelander illicits strong reactions, and that is what makes it iconic, and why it's so valuable.
