The Cinelli Special Corsa Type A is sold. The documentation will remain here for those who relish information on collectors' bikes.
This was my first glimpse at this Cinelli Special Corsa Type A bike. Willie Brandt was pushing it up the sidewalk outside of our Moab shop. When I spotted him coming, I grabbed my camera and snapped this shot before I knew he wanted to sell it. The story goes that he met a fellow in town who had purchased this gem in a thrift shop in Kanab, Utah for $25. Willie traded him a tent for it. It didn't sound too strange after hearing of the woman who purchased a Jackson Pollock in a garage sale for $5. It wasn't worth as much as the Pollock, but I knew it was worth a lot more than Willie's asking price of $400. I bought the bike on the spot. I felt it a was duty to save it from being parted out or given to his dad to ride, as Wille was threatening to do. I knew that this bike was either going to be in our shop for a very long time, probably without one thing being done to it, not even repair of the rear flat, . . . or it was going to be sold to someone who uinderstood the value of owning an completely original Cinelli. It deserved to be retired to be cherished and perserved as history and an object of art, but the bike was sold to a fellow from South Africa who had wanted to own a Cinelli from childhood. He promised to keep all original parts, but also said that he was going to ride it. While he was a racer, he was not going to race the Cinelli.
As you leaf through the picture files take a good look at the large chainring, the handlebar wrap, the condition of all the Campy Record stuff. The bike was surprisingly pristine and I am happy to have grabbed it before it got more scatches or was ridden by someone who didn't even know what it was. If you want a bit of history, dating info on Cinelli bikes, and a link to a Cinelli Registry and other tidbits, then click on THE CINELLI STORY, a page from an interesting little website owned by Mark Petry, an almost-ordinary fellow who has posted his hobbies, interests and obsessions.
To see this original Cinelli Special Corsa Type A that I am guessing is from the mid seventies, click on:
The bike sold for $1200 plus shipping a handling fees and was shipped on September 1, 2003 to a South African living in the states. We sold it to the right guy, because he sent A PICTURE OF HIS CARLTON to demonstrate how he was going to cherish the bike.
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