Paramount provenance report
 

I received the provenance report I requested from Waterford. It didn't shed any light on the question of whether it was built in Chicago or Racine (chromed 1972 but no P2 stamp on BB). I learned that it was built in September 1972 (H72319 would have suggested August) and was ordered in chrome finish with sewups and leather saddle, sold to a shop named Kips, location unknown. Any leads, or fond memories of said shop out there?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b8c3e4bacf.jpg

Update thanks to the Google-fu of a member of the Paramount group on F'book: the bike was ordered by and deliverd to Kip's Bike Shop of Glendora, CA.

A lot of those chrome Paramounts were meant to be floor models. Many shops had a total order of one for the year, unless a customer came in and wanted one on their size.

One of our shops, Gateway Schwinn had 2, they were in an affluent part of town at the time. ;)

I would think Richard would probably respond, especially after getting a report. ;)

Richard sent me the report, and he signed it! It's whatever the order or build sheet has or doesn't have. I have the order number, finish, size, saddle and tire choices and build month. Regarding the dealer: "It was sold to "Kips", a bike shop with location unknown." He also says that there were no custom drawings found. I guess he doesn't have a directory of the dealers or if so, that isn't included in the cost of the report.

Yeah, I suppose he would tell what he knows upfront if he could, he's a great guy and weighed in on several things for me. ;)

Wasn't 72 the year they cranked out something over 3000 of them? I'm sure recordkeeping wasn't done with archival goals in mind :lol:

Glad to hear Richard is back in the saddle doing these. The last time I checked he did not have much information from the early 80s but he thought he might find something while clearing out the Waterford premises. I will check back with him. Is his email the same?

I spent a lot of time riding in the mountains above Glendora in the 80s and 90s. I don't remember Kip's shop.He may have already closed up shop by then. Kip Frohman Rickel passed away in 2015.

I recall that was the high point of the sublet production. Not sure if 3,000. There are a number that appear that year but not outrageously abundant on the used market.

It's still the Waterford email.

Apparently he sold it in '75 after legal wrangles with Schwinn who had approval power over who could buy the franchise. He opened another Schwinn dealership in Reno and switched to Subway franchises - he and his wife had 18 of 'em.