Cool shop bike: late 40's Elswick Hopper ladies bike

     Our season is back in full swing here at Via Bicycle, so I have not had a lot of time for internet stuff or blogging. Today is an exception, so I figured i would do another bike profile.
     This is a pretty neat machine. It is a late 40's Elswick Hopper. It belonged to Gerald Casale's wife, Julie. Mr. Casale was the owner of Hill Cycle here in the Chestnut Hill section of our city and his son Jerry Casale was one of the men who started the Core States race here in Philadelphia, now called the Philly Cycling Classic.
     Another interesting thing about this bike is the "Vampire" decal on the down tube. I associate the Vampire model with the extremely rare Vampire Convincable model from the late 1950's. Only two are known to exist in the USA. link here! The link is an older post from this blog about the model. Very cool bike! I was present when the bike changed owners. It was a special opportunity to see such a rarity it in its as found condition. There also was a Vampire model without the unique bottom bracket/ chainring set up from the same time period. I am not aware of a ladies model Vampire though, so if anyone has any info, it would be much appreciated.
     The reason i say the bike is from the late 1940's is because of the rear derailleur. It is a Cyclo Super Olympic model, which was around from about 1947-1949. I realize that this could have been added later as well. Also, there were few British bikes that used derailleurs at that point. The Brits favored hub gears as a general rule. So, it is intriguing on a few different points.
     Enjoy the photos!

One contributer of awesome bikes comes forward

Edward Albert is a fine connoisseur of rare bikes and is a very valuable source of information and experience in cycling history. In fact, he is Vice President of the U.S. Bicycle Hall Of Fame.
He makes it a point to bring a super cool bike to a swap meet with a full write up attached to the bicycle, not only to state why the bike is rare or unique, but to help educate people. He owns the Caminade, the Vampire, the cool six day racer, the Durkopp, and many more super cool bikes. He is an outspoken proponent of collecting with provenance, a history attached to a certain bicycle. He is also currently writing a biography of Dick Power, a New York City frame builder.

I am the first to give credit where credit is due, but also try to balance out anonymity(so the owners are not hassled) and letting readers know the collectors I admire.

ed.- Eddie Albert added about Dick Power- " Mostly (built) bikes for local NY riders. Lots of kids who used them to win National Intermediate Championships and at least one senior Woman's championship (several times). That was Nancy Burghart who, BTW, was inducted into the hall of fame in 2007."

1957 Elswick Hopper Vampire Convincable

Is is one of of only 2 known examples of this highly unconventional frame.
It was British builder.
it was built with the intention of correcting chainline issues, allowing the chainring to move from side to side, for adjusting the chainline.
The chainring is adjusted with a modified Cyclo Benelux rear derailleur that is affixed to it.
I guess Suntour also thought about this with their Asymmetrical downtube shifters, that in shifting the rear derailleur, the shifter boss adjusts the throw of the front shifter, trimming the front derailleur to adjust the chainline.
I would love to know how the Vampire Convincable shifting rides.