Newbie here; need help id'ing a family bike

[Rivnut]

My wife brought home some bikes she and her siblings had when they lived at home. I've identified the 1952 Schwinn balloon bike as a "standard bike for boys" absolutely no bells and whistles or chrome, and the 1963 Schwinn Fiesta missing the headlight. Both looks like were painted with a broom. What I'm having trouble identifying is what I think is an AMC Caravan, possibly built by Murray. The serial number I found on it is M07 11x96205218. I've found information on Murray serial numbers but the X11 is missing from the lists I've found. Can anyone shed some addtional light on this serial number? Any and all help will be appreciated. I've attached some pictures I took when she first brought them home. As you can see the head badge is missing so I'm really at a loss. I'm just trying to clean them up a bit so we can cruise the park trail behind our home.

Thanks, Ed
Shawnee, KS

 

[Adamtinkerer]

I'd guess 68-71, since it has reflectors, but no "BMA/6" decal on the seat tube, which would make it post 71.

 

[rhenning]

For what it is worth it is for sure a Murray frame. Are you sure you don't mean AMF instead of of AMC. I know AMF sold bikes as I have owned/still own a couple but the only AMC I owned was a 1972 Gremlin X. Roger

 

[Rivnut]

I kept playing with google images under the words "middleweight Caravan bicycle" and various versions of the same words until I found an image of one. When I opened the text supporting the picture, reference was made to AMC bikes. From there, I googled AMC bicycles (bikes) into the images again and came up with a couple of more hits. Here's a link to one of the hits. You have to scroll down more than halfway through the thread to see the AMC pictures.


http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=23140

There are a few references to AMC bikes on the Ratroad Bike website as well.

I looked at the list of Murray bike serial numbes and the 11X is skipped. I was curious as to whether the X11 that is skipped in the sequence might be for AMC.

http://murrayeliminatormusclebikes.yuku.com/topic/16


Here's a link to some pictures of AMC head badges. The first two are the AMC's


http://www.bicycleheaven.org/page24.html


I'll keep digging and hopefully an answer will be found.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[Rivnut]

Found the perfect picture. Google images produced a link to a Craigslist ad (link attached) that shows an identical bike to mine except for the color.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/bik/3386626783.html

One of the pictures is a full head-on shot of the head badge. AMC bigger than life itselft Now - where do I find one of those??? LOL

I saved the pictures from the listing to my computer so I'll have them for a reference for later on. Some other info I found "suggests" that the AMC was a store brand sold by Woolworth. Anyone know anything about that store. Here's what I found if you don't want to open the link (or it's gone.) Not a bad bike for $50.

Now I just need to find out what year it was built.

Ed

 

[OldRider]

WoolWorth was big up here in Canada, they were a department store chain..........they disappeared in the early 90s I think. I know they sold bicycles but that was before the bike bug hit me so I can't say what brand they sold.

 

[Andrew Gorman]

The AMC in AMC stood for the Associated Merchandising Corporation, basically a consortium of smaller and regional department stores banding together to make a big enough order to cut their costs. Here is a dab of history on them:
http://www.lmc.net/history.aspx
Almost anything could be sold under the AMC name. I have an AMC Flash lightweight that is a Schwinn New World.

 

[Rivnut]

That's great info. Perhaps the X11 series in the Murray list is missing because there was no single dealer for the AMC line.

I appreciate your input. This will make it much easier to restore.

Thx, Ed

 

[Andrew Gorman]

The AMC New World I have has all of the Schwinn decals, but the car/train/plane AMC headbadge. It's green, which I think was a possible color for 1946 when it was made, but not common. You'd probably be safe following a standard Murray from the same year and level of equipment. Have fun with it!