The oldest Cardinal???

clinton_beeler · Post by **clinton_beeler** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 11:23 am

Many thanks to Ben Wright! He has been so very patient with me on this one. He has now explained the Cardinal numbering system from the 1960s once over the phone, once in an e-mail, and now in an article. I think I've finally got it.

Silly me! I've been reading the number wrong. Try not to laugh too hard OK? But picture me standing in a room with reels and parts strewn about the floor and a copy of Ben's article in one hand and an ABU Cardinal 66 in the other. No matter how many times I look at the article it says "month, month, year, year, lot #, lot #. The reel says "090500". Isn't that September of 1965?

Am I finally reading this right? If so, does anyone have one that's older? Any model?

Regards,
Clinton Beeler

P.S. Does anyone know where I can find (for Ben) a Zebco Cardinal 4 with the red and white "Zebco by ABU" sticker.

Post by **john elder** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 1:06 pm

didn't article indicate that in the '60's, that designation would have been for May, 1969? At work and don't have it with me and shouldn't have opened my mouth to confuse things further, but that's what my feeble brain recalls.

clinton_beeler · Post by **clinton_beeler** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:21 pm

That's what my feeble brain thought too! So I re-read the article just a moment ago and it says "020706=February 1967 with a 06 batch number". "The first two numbers designate the month and the second two numbers are the year of manufacture."

Don't worry about confusing me further as I have found that I am self-cornfusing.

Regards,
Clinton

Post by **john elder** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:27 pm

Clinton...yes, give me two ways to read something and I'll always invert them...your interpretation of the '60s is the one reported by Ben. i believe my head started to implode when I got to figures 1 and 2 and realized that they were the same...at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Your in dyslexia,

je

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:12 am

Hi Guys,
I guess I'll have to do a series of articles on the early "ABU" cardinals.
the abu cardinal 66 was the first cardinal. these were introduced in 1965 and discontinued in 1977. the first S/N was 040500 april of 1965.
although the abu 66 and the zebco model 6 are the same reels the
zebco cardinal would not be introduced until early 1967.
the earliest zebco 6 S/N that I have seen is 060606 june 1966
Clinton, hope this answers you questions
Ben

clinton_beeler · Post by **clinton_beeler** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:41 am

Thanks Ben,

Drat! Missed it by a few months. Guess I'll have to go back to collecting Zebco Cardinals that all have the number 750100. (don't laugh too hard, I have the 3 and 4 and I think father may have the 7).

Still looking for Ben's 4 with the red and white sticker that says Zebco by ABU.

Regards,
Clinton

SWIM JIG · Post by **SWIM JIG** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:27 pm

Ok guys , this is a short list , advise what years they are please? zebco card. 4 sn 741100, box has 11-111450 next card 4 087000, next 4 791201 next 4 760800 next 7X brown 770301 next 7 two tone green 037207 , are they recent or when? Some not listed are on rods , we use them and they were bought in the 60s any advise will be appriciated! I have a 5 but it dosent say zebco. cardinal like all the others do. Col. M. Lorens aka SWIM JIG your Ohio Conection

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 6:19 am

Hi Milt,
#4 s/n 741100= 1974-nov.
#4 s/n 087000 = Aug. 1970
#4 s/n 791201= 1979-Dec.
#4 S/n 760800= 1976-Aug.
7-X s/n 770301= 1977-March
#7 s/n 037207= march-1972
they were not bought in the 1960's
the #5 is a later model abu garcia circa mid 1980
with a skirted spool.
Ben

SWIM JIG · Post by **SWIM JIG** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 11:08 am

thanks Ben, I will (pull ) the others off rods and out of the taclke boxes and out of my kids tackle boxes amd get the #s off them, We, when stationed in TENN. bought some 4s when they first came out inthe 60s each one came with a spare spool. My #1 son grabbed the #3 as it was too small for stripe fishing! Is there any list of these #s or will you be making a list? Seems as if it would help if you did, Most of us would (buy) the list as there is a differance in parts on some years, thus making it hard to work on them! Again thanks for the help, Your Ohio conection Col. M. Lorens aka SWIM JIG

Post by **john elder** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:32 pm

Hey, Mike Campouris...great guy, btw, just asked on joes about the later brown abu Cardinal 3, trying to find a value for trade/sell...can anyone tell me anything about whether these are as good a reel as the early ones and are they desirable to use or collect?

thanks,
je

Ben · Post by **Ben** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 6:24 am

Hi John
these are very desirable to collect. he has the second version circa 1978 to 1981. value $150 to $200 in minty condition. these were the newer versions on the cardinal 33
Ben

clinton_beeler · Post by **clinton_beeler** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:59 am

I was poking around in my documentation and found that in 1967 only 14,000 Cardinals were sold by Zebco. I don't have a breakdown by model (6/7), but if it was about 50-50 then that's only about 7,000 of each model that were made in that year.

Just an FYI

Regards,
Clinton

The oldest Cardinal???

The oldest Cardinal???

The oldest cardinal ???

the oldest cardinal ???

the oldest cardinal ???