So here is my question. What makes an Excelsior an Excelsior? I have a small amount of prewar Schwinn knowledge (not much), and still haven't figured this out. What years and models of Schwinns actually came with the Excelsior headbadge?
Was the Excelsior frame any different than say a frame badged as a Liberty, Planes and Trains, or any one of the dozens of other potential headbadges available for any given year?
Was the Excelsior badge fancied by the Marin founders as the coolest looking badge and simply transferred to their frame of choice (that fit an oval badge) as they denoted any early (probably prewar) ballooner Schwinn an Excelsior?
(CK, AB, Marin founders ... I would really appreciate your input here)
I have seen the stenciled Excelsior T shirts that were made up back in the day in some of the old photo's. Certainly the badge was and is admired.
To the best of my knowledge Excelsior was not a frame style at all (like Aerocycle, Autocycle, Motorbike, Cycletruck, C, B10, etc..) for any given year but simply one of many options of headbadge offered by Schwinn for some of their frames that were distributed as Schwinns (as opposed to say a Schwinn distributed as a BF Goodrich).
I have searched just a little and have not been able to figure this out yet.
There is no doubt the "Excelsior" badge looks the coolest of all the prewar Schwinn badges I have ever seen (but are my thoughts skewed by my admiration for the forefathers of our sport?).
When someone states they want an Schwinn "Excelsior" converted to a klunker what do you envision?
Hope someone knows because I look forward to these answers......
Thanks
T
