My introduction to the Specialissima came in the mid-to-late 1960s. I had received a bottom-of-the-line Bianchi Corsa for Christmas 1962. After my brother rear-ended a parked truck with his and had the frame straightened, the proprietor of Westminster Cycles (an Orange County CA Schwinn shop) snidely commented, "Yup, that's the cheap Bianchi frame. It'll do that every time." My pride of ownership was restored when I visited a higher-end shop at Five Points shopping center in downtown Huntington Beach. After I said, "It's just a Bianchi," the owner replied, "That's what we ride," and took me in the back to show off his and his wife's early 1960s Specialissimas. Ever since, I have had this "thing" for Specialissimas of that general vintage.
The nearest I have come is my 1982 Tre Tubi Campione d'Italia, which is a blast to ride.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069