OldTel, I saw your bike when I was searching the other day and of all the examples I could find ,thought it was the closest to my own.Your bike looks really nice,I would like to do something similar to my own.1949 and still usable that's some quality.I would be prepared to pay for a good paint job as I think the bike justifies it.I have another Claud, a Colstar, from the Holdsworth era, which I bought in 80/81,as a frame and forks,new from Freewheel in London.I then built it up myself as funds allowed it is equipped with Campagnolo gears and I want to renovate it,I will probably transfer its gear over to this bike and bring the "newer bike" up to modern equipment spec.This old Claud was the most comfortable bike I've owned and I would like to get it refurbish back to some semblance of respectability.
Excel, I had thought that the Avant Coureur was the closest to my bike and that it was probably a 1949 model, but on another site someone said they thought the serial denoted a 1939,but I was not convinced as the bilam technique did not seem to be around then or at the very least much more uncommon