Need Info 1940 Westfield Rambler

Sorry about being late to reply but I think they would do well, especially if they incorporated some of the design elements of the Elgin Bluebird. IMHO, the Bluebird was the epitome of art-deco bicycle design.
 

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Hello Simon and Kilroy. I asked our friendly moderator for an opinion since you are obviously passionate & knowledgeable about old bicycles. That Elgin is a rolling piece of Art. Saw it on ebay recently asking SEVERAL thousand$$$! My point with this. Felt makes several Cruisers priced $300-$800.00. I've got one and it's good quality. If enough interest perhaps Felt would entertain the idea of doing one. With so much interest in retro everything, pedal riders might go for it too.
 
Hello Simon and Kilroy. I asked our friendly moderator for an opinion since you are obviously passionate & knowledgeable about old bicycles. That Elgin is a rolling piece of Art. Saw it on ebay recently asking SEVERAL thousand$$$! My point with this. Felt makes several Cruisers priced $300-$800.00. I've got one and it's good quality. If enough interest perhaps Felt would entertain the idea of doing one. With so much interest in retro everything, pedal riders might go for it too.

Pricing would be key there. I feel Felt could pull it off, as they already have certain elements of that kind of design in some of their bikes. Look at the tank, integral with the top bar. They could easily do the "streamline" seat stay and chainstay going back to the edge of the fender, much the way of the Bluebird or the Huffman streamline bikes of the era. Ditto with the front fork, and you'd have a modern, neo-retro version of the Bluebird.
But pricing is key. In 1998 Columbia rolled out a reissue of the 1941 F9T "Superb" and later changed the color to "Berkshire Blue" and dubbed it their 125th Anniversary bike. It was/is a beautiful bike in either color. The problem was they were going to offer a limited run of 1500 bikes, priced at an MSRP of $1495.00. In any event, they sold far fewer than the 1500 they expected to build, and it was due to the price. I have serial number 102 in Mohawk Maroon (see attachment), and I can tell you I paid just a bit less than half that price. Felt, should they decide to do a retro product like the one we're talking about would be wise to price it realistically.
 

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The element that caught my eye about your Columbia is the chainguard. Fairly "dripping" AD. Felt has one similar but smaller. Silverbear put a link in to a bike museum late '09. Wish I'd saved it! Anyway, I saw so many Design points from those bikes on the Felt Cruiser line it couldn't be coincedence. I'd fairly expect it to be priced similarly to their current line. At 500+ bucks still a bit pricey but you get quality components and lovely visual appeal. It would HAVE to have front suspension and brake. Their Abraham(similar to twin spring Monarch) fork and mechanical disc upfront. We would have to consider all current Drive setups before suggesting to Felt about rear wheel/brake/gear type. I think a medium bright blue w/ baby blue trim would look good. If we, on the mb Groups, could organize this and give Felt a fairly accurate number of units we would buy, maybe they would do it. $600.00 for the right bike that I can bolt an EZM onto w/o sprocket alignment issues? I'd do a prepaid 'paid in full' in a NY minute!
 
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