The passion for the Varsity/Continental must seem to most riders of the last ~35 years to be very odd, given that the normal (and widely published) narratives as to their lack of goodness were and are everywhere.

But these narratives so often came from those either hyping or selling racier imported bikes, or from opinionated cyclists who wrote books for beginning cyclists who might have ostensibly been looking to buy lighter, high-performance bikes for competitive or higher-mileage use.
These Schwinns however were durably designed and tested more for utility and for shorter jaunts, with the road-drop style handlebars added for marketing reasons.

This doesn't mean that the electroforged bikes (even with drop bars) can't be excellent, non-racing road bikes.
But as it turns out, these bikes need very careful size fitting so as not to have the rider situated too close to the drop handlebars when riding uphill (while up off of the saddle).

So not surprisingly, these bikes are often tested by riders who climb onto a very cramped-fitting (effectively way too small) bike that, as an added "plus", has a terrible saddle, un-padded bar tape, sticky/stretchy cables, rock-hard brake pads, uneven rims and weighs forty pounds.

But given the chance to ride a conscientiously-refurbished and properly-sized Varsity or Continental, a rider might not need much saddle time to realize the advantages of rock-steady steering and of a handy kickstand that holds the bike solidly upright, all with a style that remains timelessly beautiful and is American-built.
I must admit though that getting a Varsity up to a refined state can seem like a good bit of work when there are fine, old (and much lighter) road bikes that can be had today for so little money on Craigslist.
But for an initial outlay of $20 at Salvation Army, I feel that (over 1500 or so miles) I have already nearly gotten my money/work's worth of "big ring" use out of this one.