Tricky,
I agree looks like a sloppy 7 to me. From looking at a lot of these numbers 1 and 7 are often misread for each other. The 7 tends to have a bit of a curve, which this does. While the style of 1 is usually straight with a little deflection off to left at top.
The Italia was made in 1981 according to Kilgariff's catalog and perhaps you are right it carried on in 1982. Or... perhaps Dave's "prediction" graph is a tad off. The prediction is "circa" after all.
I have never seen a Claud Butler Italia. Would be really nice to see pics!
Doug
Originally Posted by
tricky
Claud Butler Italia serial. Pardon the dirt, it's a rider. And, do you all think that third digit is a 7? Regardless, the 03, per this thread, puts the frame solidly in '82, but I can't make that jive with the catalogs listed here:
Claud Butler Maybe they were still selling Claud Butler branded racing frames while also putting out touring bike catalogs. I am not complaining. '82 is my birth year, so I feel even more attached to this frame now.
Edit: Reread the first post. If it's a 037, it's 82, but 031 would be 81. The cant of the number leads me to believe it's a sloppily stamped 7.