Dave Novoselsky provided an except form the "Yellow Jersey" site concerning the Schwinn imported "Voyager" model.
"Schwinn also marketed a top shelf touring model from Panasonic, the World Voyager, lugged with butted Tange tube, lots of chrome, forged ends and Shimano's excellent Crane changers with Suntour bar-end shifters. This was serious competition to the Paramount series at half the price. Mechanics knew the Shimano gear was clearly superior to Campagnolo's Gran Turismo on the P15 Paramount. By 1974 the Voyager was quietly dropped, the Shimano Crane derailleur appeared on the new Paramount Touring, and Schwinn made a large commitment to Panasonic-built LeTours which would become Schwinn's second-most-popular model through the seventies."
I would like to add some clarifcations concerning the Voyager model.
The model is listed in the catalogs as "Voyageur", using a French, not English, spelling (like the SST, Concorde vs. Concord).
The World Voyageur was replaced in 1974 1/2 by the Schwinn approved Voyageur II model. The bikes are identical except for color choices. The Voyageur is listed as a World bicycle and was in a separate catalog.
Also, Schwinn carried the imports in the 1975 and later catalogs, listing them as Schwinn approved and describing the rigid Schwinn supervision.
The Voyageurs had a full chrome frame which was painted except for the fork halves and stays. It looked like a Paramount tourer and weighed the same (26# per 75 catalog). It 's kinda like the lines from the "Blues Brothers": "It has the cop motor. It has the cop shocks, ..."
I bought a Voyageur II in May 1975 and the handlebar and stem are date stamped April 1975, so the model was in production per the catalog. At the time I thought the bike was a good buy ($335 vs. $577 for the P10-9) and still believe so. I still ride it. The frame geometry appears identical to the P10/P15 models, long (104 cm) wheelbase.
The GT-300 rear derailer was used on the 1975 Voyageur II and Paramount P15-9 (the P10-9 had a NR rear). The GET-300 RD on the Voyageur II was the long cage model as the rear gearing was 14-32 in 5 speeds with a Shimano Titlest FD on a 52-39 Dura Ace crankset (alpine half step gearing).
The Suntour bar end shifters and GT-300 tended to need more tension to shift to the lower gears than needed to hold it there. Always trimming the tension back after a shift, esp. to the 17 tooth cog (#2).
Happy to exchange e-mails off list concernign the Voyageur models.
Respectfully,
John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ