The bike was built in Australia (Adelaide), probably in the late '50s by the Elliott Brothers. Yes, the paint seems to be original. And it's in great condition. Apparently it was the custom to put a clearcoat on over a fancy paint job, and though this clearcoat has yellowed and blistered a bit, it has really preserved the paint underneath.
I've done a bit of research since buying the bike. In Australia they call this kind of painting "feathers," and it was usually an after-market thing (thank you Rolf Lunsmann of the Canberra Bicycle Museum). There was a highly regarded painter who apparently worked at Super Elliotts in the '50s and '60s named Ray Greenslade. He was probably the creator of my feathers, based on another Super Elliott I've seen in pictures that he was known to have painted.
According to Addo Zevenbergen in Australia, seller of the other SE in question, Greenslade did custom painting up until at least the early '90s for various shops. I'll post some pictures of Addo's (now someone else's) Super Elliott in my album at wooljersey.
I'm thinking of joining the West Marin Vintage ride on 1/30. If I go, I'll be riding the SE. I've added a 5-spd freewheel since I last posted pictures. More to come.
BTW, I've caught the Aussie bike bug. Please send me any unwanted classic bikes from Oz to keep my small menagerie company. I just added Ben Kamejas' A.G. Healing trackie to the stable, restoration in progress. If I could find someone here to do it, I would have feathers on the Healing.
Regards, Dave Ross Portola Valley, CA
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:38:31 -0800 From: "Otis" <otis@otisrecords.com> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Subject: [CR]David Ross' Super Elliot Message-ID: <DMEJIHDFKPCMMPJEINFDAEJCDIAA.otis@otisrecords.com> In-Reply-To: <MONKEYFOOD20N39x6HH00002127@monkeyfood.nt.phred.org> Content-Type: text/plain;charset="iso-8859-1" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Message: 12
Can the owner or somebody comment on the pinstripe art
on this bike.
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Jon Williams
Grants Pass OR