Steven,
I'm not talking about the Hetchins pictured in the link. I'm refering to a Hetchin's that appeared at a Swap/Show here in CA a few years ago. It was clearly very poor work, wasn't like any "official" Hetchins model in lug pattern and placement, and had obviously been painted by a non-professional; and yet it had a Hetchins decal attached. This particular bike had the worst polishing/chromeplating job I've ever seen on a frame. It was not built by Ron Cooper or any authorized agent for Hetchins. It was not intended to be a replica either; it was pure fraud.
CyclArt purchased the bike we on the list dubbed the "Magnum Bogus". I'm just wondering where that bike ended up and what form it finally took.
The bike shown at A Bicycle Odyessy actually looks to have very pleasant curves to the chainstays in comparison to many of the modern ones I see. At least on that one someone had a good eye for the bends. Some of the "official" Hetchins have very unpleasing curves. The Magnum Bogus was similar. One thing I like about the older ones is that the chainstays are nicely curved.
So I'm not entering the debate on which Hetchins is the "real" one; I have no idea on that issue what is going on. I'm referring to one particular fake that I have actually seen that is deffinitely not the real thing but was offered for sale as such.
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA