One of my favorite old bikes is this Bowden Spacelander. I saw one for sale on line recently for only $17,000, a tad higher than the original price of $89.50. Anyway, here's the lo-down:Benjamin J. Bowden (American, born England, 1907–1998) designed the Spacelander in 1946, which was eventually manufactured in 1960. The entire frame is fiberglass (no steel skeleton), which made it a pretty lightweight rig for the time....only 50 lbs!
The aluminum prototype of this futuristic bicycle was handmade by the MG Auto Company in England in 1946 and incorporated an ingenious dynamo that stored the downhill energy and released it on uphill runs. It was prohibitively expensive for consumer production, but in 1960 Bowden contracted with Bomard Industries in Michigan, to produce a more mechanically conventional, one-speed version of the dynamic, organic design in fiberglass, a new design material. Ultimately the endeavor was too costly for Bomard Industries, as well, and the firm went out of business having manufactured only 522 examples.
If you have one of these collecting dust in your garage, I'll be glad to take it off your hands.
Photo stolen from the Brooklyn Museum
