Stevan Thomas wrote:
>
> chuckschmidt@earthlink.net writes:
>
> > Well, clearly and unequivocally the Campagnolo catalogs state otherwise,
> > so at this point it is clear that the seller intends to mislead
> > prospective buyers into thinking that they are bidding on a first
> > generation Gran Sport, when in fact, what he has for auction is a second
> > generation Gran Sport "Extra" (not considered "extremely rare" nor "the
> > Holy Grail" among collectors either).
> >
> The way I look at this situation, is that according to the "Campagnolo Time
> Line" this derailleur is a one-year-of-production only item from 1952. It's
> fairly rare, if not "the holy grail". The 1953 through 1955 ones (3rd gen.and the
> last with the open C on the back) are only common compared to the first two
> versions that were each made for one year only. The "common ones are that ones
> later than these first 3 versions, and according to the timeline, there are 6
> versions. The first version is the 1951 and the changes follow in 1952, 1953,
> 1956, 1960 and 1961.
> As an aside, I know a fellow who found one of the first year 1951 derailleurs
> at a swap meet in the USA. I find it hard to believe they only made 10 of
> those. There may indeed be a version they only made 10 of, but without proof, I
> can't buy that story.
Stevan, the seller's mention of "only ten made" refers to the twin-cable Gran Sport prototype (never made it to production) that Tullio Campagnolo displayed at the 1950 Milan trade show held in late 1950.
Here's the drawing Daniel Rebour made of the twin-cable Gran Sport prototype for his 1950 Milan trade show report that appeared in Le Cycle magazine:
http://www.campyonly.com/
Here's a photo comparison of the Gran Sport (1951) and the Gran Sport Extra (1952); the Gran Sport is on the right marked "B" and the Gran Sport Extra appears on the left marked "A":
http://www.campyonly.com/
As to the rarity? Two Gran Sport Extras were found in the basement of American Cyclery in San Francisco when Oscar Juner sold the shop to Jean (Bradley Woehl owns the shop now) not so many years ago. I was one of the lucky buyers; the other was a well known Japanese collector.
Incidentally, American Cyclery is one of the "must see" shops of America for people who love bicycles!
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, CA
.