Difference between 44x and 44 express

[CafeRacer]

Is there any difference or was it only a Europe/U.S. market badging excercise?

[Greentura]

The 'X' or 'express' has a faster retrieve than the standard 44 but apart from that its just regional badging

[CafeRacer]

Which is the rarer?

[Greentura]

I've seen far more 'X' than Express, but then I've seen 'X's go for silly money so can't help. The brown ones seem rarer too

[CafeRacer]

I've seen far more 'X' than Express, but then I've seen 'X's go for silly money so can't help. The brown ones seem rarer too

Thank you.

[BeechmereLake]

I purchased this reel recently and was just wondering what the spool was all about, it had a match type spool on it and on the base was a white plastic ring like the 506 Match reels had to stop the line going under the spool, anybody know if this spool is correct for the reel, its now been temporarily replaced with another.

[Woodytia]

I have just got one of these reels, it came with three spools, the two shallow spools had the white plastic ring, the deeper spool didn't. I would like to know how to find out about dates of manufacture from the serial number though. Can any of you help?

[Ljm183]

I have just got one of these reels, it came with three spools, the two shallow spools had the white plastic ring, the deeper spool didn't. I would like to know how to find out about dates of manufacture from the serial number though. Can any of you help?

Have a look here

http://www.reelstown.com/abu.htm

Might help

[Woodytia]

Thanks for that, it looks as if the shallow spools came off a different reel or were bought later. I know the serial number matches one for sale at the moment at an eye watering asking price.

[BeechmereLake]

The Cardinal 44 eXpress is a very rare reel in any condition, produced in limited numbers in 1974 ONLY the reel was designed for competition fishing coming with a 6:1 gear ratio and shallow type match spools.
Because of fine diameter lines being used for match style fishing the spools came with the white plastic dust ring around the base is the original spool (like my reel in the picture) which was to prevent lines getting underneath the spool (AKA ABU 506/507) the reel also comes with the cone shaped bail guide on the bail wire.
This reel was made exclusively for the UK market aimed purely at the match angler, there was an intermediate reel which came out in October and the only difference was the side plate, no longer did it have a sticker on it but had a badge like most of the other cardinals we see, I have such a reel in a well used condition but it is what it is, see pics below



Sticker removed the reel went on to wearing a badge



The serial number on this reel is critical for those few short months of this first version reel



Reel remained almost the same through 1975/76 before the reel changed its colour to Brown and rich cream in 1976