In a message dated 1/15/01 9:54:52 PM Pacific Standard Time, bhufford@mail.orion.org writes:
<< org
CR,
I need all the info I can round up on the late-'72 to early-'74 World Traveler and World Voyageur models imported by Schwinn prior to introducing the Schwinn Le Tour and Volare models. Access to any literature would be great!
Pics at:
http://www.geocities.com/
Thanks!
Bob Hufford Springfield, MO >>
When WV roled in to our shop for repair, our owner was calling foul. He thought someone knocked off a Schwinn, as so many of the desogn styling, and graphic elements of the American legend.
He was getting ready to write them a long letter and poursue the issue. After all, Schwinn had long been and might remain today one of the only household words our sport or industry has ever known.
Copywright, patent, and litigation ideas were abounding within this reactionary individual, our unesteemed leader, and one of the only people in the world I'd ever known to fail Schwinn factory school.
I'm not sure which of us cracked the mystery, but by the owner's manual shown us by the customer or a small emblem somewhere on the frame (check yours) there was an indication that it was made for or by the Schwinn Bicycle Co.
It was a product of Matsushita (National) Electric Company, better known as Panasonic. We picked up the Panasonic line during those days and some extremely fine bicycles, from the basic sport 500 to the professional, a very coveted machine, especially today.
Back to the Voyageur/ Traveler. The Voyageur was a favorite among sport and touring enthusiasts It sold for about $279 and featured the Shimano spring-loaded bar end 'pinkie' shifters, super wide range gearing, the new 130mm poattern cranks, and Paramount-inspired chrome fork and stay treatment. Mine aren't here at the moment, but they might have had chrome lugs and crown
The Traveler was vanilla by comparison, similar to the later Panasonic-produced LeTour by Schwinn.
The World Voyageur came in Orange (Kool Orange, same as the Krate) as well as a couple of opaque colors, possibly powder blue, questionable green, maybe yellow.
There are brochures, dealer catalogs, and owner's manuals around here somewhere, which I'll get out eventually as soon as I can get help with the excavation.
One of my WV's is all chrome but I'm sure it was stripped of paint by it's owner. The base chrome is much more polished and prepared than most frasmes with chrome accents (most of the time for a chrome tip or lug, the entire frame is treated to the embrittling process, but most only polish the areas to be exposed)
Enjoy the voyage
Larry Black