Then perhaps it was the US market that caused Raleigh to brand Carltons as Raleigh, because the Carlton name was not well enough known here. I do remember from my childhood that Raleigh built a big name in the US just after WWII upon the 3-speed "English Racers", the first of them brought back from England by returning American soldiers. I was never aware of the Carlton name as a child in the 50's.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca> wrote: Carlton Closed up in 1981 (source : http://www.carltoncycles.me.uk). I don't know exactly when Raleigh started to distribute Carlton in the USA, but Carlton tried several times to penetrate the USA market after acquisition by Raleigh - once via Huffy, and again using the "Carlton" brand. When these failed I think that the Raleigh Carltons originated in 1965 or 1966, but the catalogues on http://www.bulgier.net do not cover this period very well, e.g. the 1967 catalogue mentions the "Raleigh Carlton" bicycle from worksop, see :
http://www.bulgier.net/
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA