"The Last Schwinn Made In America"

[AS-1]

As seen in the 1991 Schwinn Dealer Catalog

 

[Oilit]

Two High Plains new in the box. Shop owner ordered them because he knew they were ending production. Unfortunately date code not stamped on the boxes so not sure when they were actually made.

View attachment 1993299

My curiosity would be killing me. Do you know any doctors who have an endoscope you could borrow?

 

[AS-1]

My curiosity would be killing me. Do you know any doctors who have an endoscope you could borrow?

And what's really spooky cool about that High Plains Aluminum is that the first and only year that bike was Made In The U.S.A. was 1991, which means it's not only rare because it was a "One-and-Done" but it's one of the very last Family Made Schwinn bicycles in EXISTENCE. And to make matters worse, @Kramai88 has one that is not only NOS but NIB. HOLY POOPSKIS!

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Seems like you would pick a premium model to store away in your "time capsule". Maybe a Cimaron? Not a bike model that was only spec'd out with 200 series Shimano. Look at the Prewar Schwinn's that are most sought after today, they are all the scarce "top of the line" models.

Just a thought. John

 

[GTs58]

I'm sure Schwinn may have added more Greenville lightweight models after 1986

 

[kingsting]

Two High Plains new in the box. Shop owner ordered them because he knew they were ending production. Unfortunately date code not stamped on the boxes so not sure when they were actually made.

View attachment 1993299

Red is a 92 model number and the blue is a 90. Did you look at the other side of the boxes? They have may have stamped the date codes on one label instead of both...

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Red is a 92 model number and the blue is a 90. Did you look at the other side of the boxes? They have may have stamped the date codes on one label instead of both...

Agree, the bicycle boxes were also date coded the same as the bicycle frame. This allowed Schwinn to do any possible recalls/updates at the distribution centers, or at the dealerships "before the bikes were assembled".

Giant sent a team of engineers to each Schwinn Sales Company to do Sonic Testing on a batch of High Sierra's they manufactured. It seems they "undercut" the brazing at the head/down tubes resulting in a very thin joint which resulted in frame cracks. By Sonic testing they could determine the metal joint thickness. They did a frame changeover "in the distribution center" on every bike that tested to be under sized. All of these bikes were still in the original boxes. They set up an assembly line for testing and frame changes. This was all based on the date of production code on the end of the carton.

Safety was taken seriously, at all levels of the distribution channel.

John

 

[Kramai88]

They are up high in the attic of the shop. Could only see one end of the boxes

 

[Schwinn Sales West]

Two High Plains new in the box. Shop owner ordered them because he knew they were ending production. Unfortunately date code not stamped on the boxes so not sure when they were actually made.

View attachment 1993299

The date code is the little rectangle on the box shipping label in your photo. The information was either "hand written in", or the extra frame date sticker was stuck onto the shipping label date code box.

John

 

[AS-1]

According to the 1991 Schwinn Authorized Dealer Catalog (part number 74297), the following bikes were "Made in U.S.A." Given the fact that through Schwinn's modern history, the company regularly used a wide variety of imported components in the manufacture of their products up to and including the Paramount, the term "Made in U.S.A" will here indicate these bikes, not just their frames, were made/manufactured in The U.S.A.

One of the following 9 bicycles "Made in U.S.A" was "The Last Schwinn Made in America." Though it is possible that a Paramount was made in the Waterford facility under the auspices and direction of the Schwinn Family enterprise after October 4, 1991, said date will hereby be used as the date of reckoning.

1. Sierra MOS
2. Impact Pro MOS
3. High Plains aluminum
4. High Plains
5. Aluminum 594
6. Aluminum 354
7. Traveler
8. World Sport
9. Cruiser Supreme

Using the logic that the following bikes were not called out as having been "Made in U.S.A" in the 1991 Schwinn dealer Catalog, for the purposes of this thread it is accepted that they were made outside of the United States.

1. Woodlands
2. Mirada
3. Frontier
4. Crosscut
5. Crisscross
6. Crossfit
7. Aluminum 434
8. Duosport
9. Voyageur
10. LeTour
11. Sprint
12. Caliente
13. Cruiser Coaster
14. Montague BiFrame
15. Suburban

[Please forgive errors and omissions] [If you disagree with the catalog, it will be incumbent upon you to prove it wrong]

Do you own "The Last Schwinn Made in America"?