This frame dates from January or February 1948 and is a Super Special - it has a head badge from the 1960s and may have been refinished then or may actually have been first sold then - I can look it up in the records if anybody wants to know. It's unlikely that it would have had a front derailleur originally. All the parts are much later but the Campag Record rear mech, brakes and bars/stem might have been fitted in the 1960s.
Hilary Stone, Bristol, England
leonarddiamond@verizon.net wrote:
> Listed as serial number 483191. Would this make its year of birth 1948? Originally would there have been a front derailleur?
>
> Len Diamond
> Ridgewood, NJ USA
>
>> From: Steve Maas <bikestuff@nonlintec.com>
>> Date: 2006/11/13 Mon AM 09:24:40 CST
>> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>> Subject: [CR]Another nice Hetchins
>
>> For those of you still reeling from the $7K Hetchins, and in need of
>> some ballasting by reality: Ebay item 160048179834
>>
>> Superspecial or possibly a Nulli Secundus. Seems to have been subjected
>> to a low-class respray, which is now pretty beat up. Starting bid seems
>> a bit high, considering its condition. Still, someone could have a lot
>> of fun turning this into a very pretty bike. Tempting, as it's arguably
>> within my range of acceptable sizes, I'm only about sixty miles from the
>> seller this week, and I'm allowed one more piece of luggage for the trip
>> home...
>>
>> Steve Maas
>> (Reporting from)
>> Hitchin, Herts., UK