Addenda: Where I was working in the mid-70's, the LeTour's superior quality and value blew Raleigh and Peugeot out of the store. The differences between 1975 Peugeot U08, Raleigh Grand Prix, and Schwinn Le Tour were that all of the parts fit the frame properly and worked, bb's didn't have to be removed on half of the LeTours to remove sand, flux, etc, to get the noxious popping out of the pedalling, wheels were truer and in dish and centered in the frame and fork properly, and when joy-ridden by a 20 year old mechanic and criterium-cornered felt dismayingly similar to his Bob Jackson and Mondia--a "cheap" bike wasn't supposed to feel that good, damnit!
> 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/
> http://www.geocities.com/
> http://www.geocities.com/
> http://www.geocities.com/
> http://www.geocities.com/
> 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