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I found this bicycle a while back and have been planning on either fixing it up (if it's worth it) or selling it. All I have, really, is the frame. I haven't been able to find out exactly what it is and can't seem to find any markings on the frame. All I can tell is that it is a women's bike from the frame design. I'm not a big bike guy, so I don't know if it's even very old, although I would think it is due to the headlight. I would appreciate any help! Full Bike/Frame

Rear

Front/Headlight

Alex98
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  • Pretty much a standard bike, probably from about 1945 to 1960 or so. A headlight in the "tank" was popular in the 50s -- don't recall a particular brand that liked that style, though. – Daniel R Hicks Oct 31 '14 at 00:31
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    It's only worth anything as a lawn ornament or for some welder to make a "sculpture" from. – Daniel R Hicks Oct 31 '14 at 00:32

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See "J.C. Higgins Girls Flightliner" on this page. Perhaps not the exact bike, but quite close. And I think Western Auto was also fond of the "tank" between the bars.

enter image description here

Daniel R Hicks
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  • It may not be exact, but, like you said, it is close. I'll look more into the Western Auto bikes. – Alex98 Nov 04 '14 at 13:41
  • As pointed out - there are very few identifying characteristics. "Tanks" were very popular in this period - everyone was trying to imitate motorcycles. There are only two things I notice that might aid your research: the chainring cutout pattern, and the fork crown. If you find a match for the chainring cutouts, from an old photo, you have likely found your manufacturer. The fork crown style will aid in confirmation, but they are not as unique as the chainrings. And, old catalog and advert images rarely show detail on the fork crown. There is typically very little value in such frames. – Mark G B Dec 08 '15 at 03:56
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    Not this one. See the top tube extending to the rear seat stays, the OPs bike frame does not have this. Gas tank and rack look similar, but are slightly different. There are many very similar looking bikes from this era with small frame variations. – Benzo Jan 03 '16 at 22:49
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It looks like a Firestone 500, from the late 50's early 60's. Note the top tube is one tube attached to the seattube. The gas tank seems to match. Same style chainring, rack, and bars.

Firestone 500

Benzo
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  • Yeah, that's about as close a match as one can hope for. Of course, some brands (likely Firestone is one) were rebranded versions of other bikes, so the same bike may be found in with another badge. In particular, there are many similarities to the Huffy in another post, and Huffy would have been a likely manufacturer of the "house brands" sold elsewhere. – Daniel R Hicks Jan 03 '16 at 23:23
  • I have to agree, this seems to be the closest to what mine looks like! Unlike others I've seen, this one doesn't have really anything that looks entirely different than mine. Thanks for your response! – Alex98 Jan 05 '16 at 15:03
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the bike is an early 60's Huffy Eldorado, it is worth what you want it to be worth.

here is a photo of one missing the tank and the rear rack.

Repaired, they are a nice bike. enter image description here

Pierce
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    I think the OP's bike was not this one for several reasons. At least not the exact one picutred. You can see that the top tube is one tube on the OP photo, not two peices as in your photo.

    The frame looks a lot like a mid 60s ross super delux / jc higgins / firestone. If I was going to take a guess, I would say it's a late 50's firestone 500. Here's a pic of a 500 that looks like this one. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18929260906185650/

     – Benzo Jan 03 '16 at 22:42