Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

The ABU Reels forum.
User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

CWK wrote:Many thanks for that info BL . I think I'm correct in thinking that Bob James used a couple of C5's in a carp fishing scene in A Passion For Angling .........

The mechanics inside the reel have to be seen to be believed , just like a Swiss watch .. Shame is I rarely have cause to use it today .
I do believe your right, just after Mr Yates hooks a fish he shouts "Bob, Bob" then you see his reels, the handle looks odd but the rest of the reel is Cardinal 1984 and on.
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

Gentlemen, a little bit of extra news on these reels has come to light, many of you may have the book done by my friend Marco Malevasi of Reelstown fame all about these wonderful reels, well today I think I have found a very special reel indeed and one that can change the history, only slightly, of this reel.
I have purchased some Cardinals a while ago, one being a first version "Svangsta special foot" reel, all looked normal as I gave it the once over that was until I looked at the serial number. In Marco's book he talks about the "special foot" reel and dates it from 1969 but patented in 1968 and sold in 1969-1970, he also has the booklet which dates may 1968 which seems to indicate the booklet was printed may 1968 and the reel produced in 1969-70.
Well the good news is the reel I have in my collection has a serial number 050800 which works perfect with the paperwork he has, it also has the red/brown sticker which many think was a black ink gone wrong, for me its right as I have seen Zebco 4's with them too, anyway I will let you know his thoughts when I speak with him later tonight.
So with this in mind what I will do is edit the original post and pop some of the pictures of this reel at the beginning of the post as for me its a true indication of what went on back then. :eyebrow:
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

I have done a little bit more homework on the early Cardinal 44 with 68 serial number, the post at the beginning now has some more information edited into it and another picture of the reel just showing the all rare reel foot at the top. :Hat:
I have also done a different picture of one of the reels on a 1980's rod :Chuckle: Great rod fittings back then and plastic too which left the paint on the reel foot.
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

Its been a while gents but the good news is I managed to secure a very rare box indeed, in all my time collecting these reels I only ever saw 1 other just like this, Im guessing many were produced but it would seem these Garcia boxes mainly went to the USA . Box dates from 1981 with paperwork and spanner which is how they all came back then, this now ends the story of the Cardinal 44 1968-1982, the finest reels for the finest years :Hat:
I will add photos to the rest of them so they are in order.

Image

Image
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

As always a tough find reel comes along every now and then and today I secured a really hard to find reel in the shape of the Intermediate Champagne Cardinal 4, I have added the pictures to the original post for you to see. I have also added a picture of these hard to find fishes boxes which I now have an obsession with :Hahaha:
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
Nobby
Wild Carp
Posts: 10975
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:40 pm
12
Location: S.W.Surrey
Contact:

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by Nobby »

Blimey! I'd never even heard of those boxes.....do they do this stuff to drive future collectors mad???

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

Yes Nobby, drive you mad is about right, for so long I thought the reels would have to be in these boxes but information was not available on them, Marco never had them for his book and Wayne Real never had them on his website. A chance look on eBay USA one day and bingo boxed Cardinal 4 in fishes box, $400. I was never gonna pay that but secured pictures of it, did some more homework then BAM another came up, the reel had sold for $400 which then brings out the rest likewise with the 4X box, one popped up and the women sold me the box as the reel was not correct, week later another one comes along so had that too. Always said the time to buy something rare is when you see it, just found a rare Mitchell so off to sell the wife and dog :Hahaha: :Hahaha:
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
Tonytoned
Arctic Char
Posts: 1798
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 10:07 am
8
Location: Dorset
Contact:

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by Tonytoned »

Very very interesting Beechmere Lake, read it whilst I was carp fishing today. I didn't realise there was so many different models. I was always aware of the cardinals but being a Mitchell user at the time I didn't take much notice, but I throughly enjoyed reading this post. I will keep an eye out for abu cardinals. Thank you for such a wonderful and informative post.

:Hat:

User avatar
BeechmereLake
Brown Trout
Posts: 1390
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:43 pm
10

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by BeechmereLake »

Tonytoned wrote: Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:18 pm Very very interesting Beechmere Lake, read it whilst I was carp fishing today. I didn't realise there was so many different models. I was always aware of the cardinals but being a Mitchell user at the time I didn't take much notice, but I throughly enjoyed reading this post. I will keep an eye out for abu cardinals. Thank you for such a wonderful and informative post.

:Hat:
Thanks Tonytoned, this one has been a pleasure to do and there is still the odd reel to find, when I find them I will post them here again :Hat:

You will find also the bigger Cardinals on the forum like the 66 and 77, and there is also the 50 series reels too which cover the best carp fishing reels from the late 70's like the 55 and 57, again in time reels that are missing will, hopefully, be added. :eyebrow:
" It is a sinister place yet powerfully fascinating"

"BB"

User avatar
CWK
Perch
Posts: 411
Joined: Sat May 12, 2012 9:34 am
11

Re: Life of a Cardinal 44 into a 4

Post by CWK »

Hi BL , I have an Abu C5 which is engineered like a Swiss watch ... A beautiful example of fishing reel technology .. Can you please tell me something about where it sits in the Abu reel dynasty ..

Post Reply

Return to “ABU Reels”