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prototype Jaguar

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mrg

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
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Ok lets see if anybody can help with this. I have a couple of 53/54 Jaguars, both have both types of fender mounts in the rear factory, I have seen 4 (owned 3 of these) over 30 yrs., first I bought a 53 cantilever frame I thought someone had welded a hand brake hoop over the og fender bracket but a local old Schwinn told me it was a 53 prototype jag.then I went to Ann arbor swap and Jerry Peters house I met some old Schwinn factory workers that told me in 53 the boss said lets make a HD 3spd. and they only made frames in big batches so they pulled some Phantom frames out of stock and welded a hoop brace for the hand brake over the og fender mt. I don't remember if they told me how many (if they knew) but when they got good reviews and were making frames again they made jag specific ones with just the hoop fender/brake mt. also they told me that the first ones had aluminum hub SA 3 spds. rarer Laubdell seat, both of mine have the hub and one the seat. one I found around 20 yrs. ago complete but had been hot rodded in the late 50's with bobed fenders, corvett tank & cal handle bars, then 10 yrs. ago a complete really faded one, the 4th one someone had and sold at LB swap a couple of yrs. ago, I sold him a og green guard of a 55 jag that matched his paint. I never looked at his # but my hot rod is 53 and I will look tomorrow at my red one. that the only info I have but over the yrs. a couple of people have said similar things.Like to see what anybody else has heard or seen. These pics are old, maybe I will get better ones tomorrow. Thanks

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You do realise production of 1954 Jags started in like Sept of 1953 do you not? In Schwinns year of frame date doen't mean model year of the bike. They were often built months ahead of the time the frame became a bike. Roger
 
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Yes I know year models started late in the year before, that's not the point, these were made before they made Jaguar specific frames, so at the beginning of production, they are 54' models
 
the early ones had an aluminum rear hub and a single crash rail seat made in almira ohio,the other ones had a steel rear hub and leftover phanther 2 rail ballooner seats,i think they used hubs and brake handles from early travlers or worlds,ya kno schwinn was famous for using existing parts to come out with new models and the first run bikes differ from regular production models,the early one i had also had apainted headlite bezel,i dont know if the brake handles are unique but ive not seen them on other bikes,if i remember the spelling on the first seat was faubler,elmira ohio,oh ya ive seen an original with the weird moonsoon tires or what they called em,there were 2 diff tire brands cataloged,the painted bezel if per catalog
 
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cant say,i dont remember seeing it but then i wasnt lookin,sounds like somthing schwinn would do,do the middleweight frames have the same rear mount for single and multi speed?with just a diff fork in the front?
 
I find this very interesting, it's not every day you come across something like this. Those flat added on brake/fender brackets may also have been a proto type. I'm curious to know the locations were the four were found. Were they all in Cali?
 
Ok lets see, the first one (with double rear brake/fender mount) I bought at a yard sale here in socal in the late 70's to make a klunker for the Mt. Wilson downhill and with the dbl mounts, the first balloon Id seen with hand brakes so I made mine hub & hand brakes in rear and the balloon fork w/brake, Mt. Wilson was 13 mi. downhill dirt road that ate brakes and no hub (ND, bendex,Morrow etc) lasted more than 2 or so days (3 trips down a day) also wore out pads & shoes (Vans) sliding around those corners but this for a different thread in another section. second one found at Pomona car swap 10 yrs. and the frame was the same so I knew Schwinn had made them. they come from all over for that swap and didnt think about ask where it was from, then I got the story I talked about in my first post when I was back east. Then a few yrs. ago I bought the red (or whats left of the red) back east, didnt ask about the one I saw at last at LB bike swap but all 4 had the dbl brake/fender mt. all factory welded and identical.O well ask my friends here on the cabe if its weird I seem to find it (and then 3) Im sure there is more out there and more info. Thanks, here are more pics of my hotrod on the road today
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I give up for tonight, I lost my whole paragraph once ( and I'm not a fast typer) and now some sideways pics, I posted the pics from my phone and I guess its how you were holding when you took it even tho it doesn't show that way on phone. O well
 
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I'm curious about your serial numbers. You said they were late 53 so could you please post the numbers when you have nothing else better to do? ;) Someone earlier said the new next years models began production in Sept but that is incorrect. From my research Schwinn starting stamping serial numbers for the next years models in mid November. It took roughly a little over one month from that serial number date before there was a finished bike.

Been doing some internet searches on this subject and I came across two pictures and both these Jags have both brackets. May be hard to see but I blew up the pics to verify.

I'll bet there are and have been owners that are clueless about this oddity on their Jaguars. It would be interesting to see just how long or how many Jags Schwinn produced with this add on bracket.

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