LOL. I am also by far no expert on the subject either and am really just making guesses based on a lot of photos and information recently acquired from some serious Paramount fans.
As reference, here is a 1952 Paramount Tourist which shares some very similar frame features to the auction bike:
http://www.chainedrevolution.com/
Note that the head lugs seem to be shaped nearly identical and are chromed. Also, the "distinctive" rear dropouts are seem a perfect match. The cable routing under the top tube also appear to be the same. Too bad I can't make out the serial number on the dropout as that would be a great datapoint.
Cheers, Tam Pham Huntington Beach, CA - USA
On 9/6/07, Stronglight49@aol.com <Stronglight49@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Regarding ebay Item: 110166910438
>
> I am definitely no expert, but I believe they started using Nervex lugs
> only
> in the late 1950s... which would concur with Tam Pham's
> date estimate. The
> bike looks repainted and the seat tube decal band looks wrong as does the
> down tube lettering decal. So, I think they were replaced some time
> after the
> re-paint was already completed. The pin striping could have been copied
> from
> the original paint scheme from the mid 1950s (was that called the
> "Disneyland" style?). Maybe those were the only decals to be found at a
> later time and
> the awkward overlay across the pin striping was because the striping was
> done
> without referencing around an actual set of decals. Wish I could find
> someone to do pin striping like that for me... but at a price I could
> afford.
>
> Could those have been the rear dropouts for a model P11 "Tourist" which
> featured a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub and a chrome plated chain guard ...
> as
> someone had already suggested, that could be the use for the secondary
> forward-mounted eyelet?
>
> I think the headlugs look quite nice. And all the chrome (re-chrome?)
> seems
> very good.
>
> Bob Hanson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
>
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