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| Sportex
As far as the history of the Sportex company is concerned, we have no idea when it was founded or when they started producing fishing equipment. We do know Sportex still exists in Ulm, near the same place where it was located over 50 years ago. Today Sportex GmbH & Co www.sportex.de still produces fishing rods, as well as semi-finished rod-blanks for other companies. To find more information on it's history we depend on advertisements and articles in old fishing magazines. An article in the july 1954 issue of the Dutch fishing magazine "De Sportvisser" mentions some interesting information. At that time Sportex produced over 250.000 fiberglass rod blanks per year, in 60 different types. These rod blanks were shipped to countries all over the world (including China, Japan, Brasil, Mexico and New-Zeeland). Perlon-nylon (purchased as semi-finished product from Badische Analin un Soda) was being finished and coloured to be sold as "Petril", "Speedspin"and "Fisher Brand" nylon. The article mentions 3 different types of spinning reels being produced : the River Automatic, the River Deluxe and the Ocean. All parts for these reels - except the aluminum cast bodies - were made and assembled at the factory in Ulm. Speedspin River and Speedspin River Deluxe:   Speedspin Ocean:   Despite the fact Sportex spinning reels were only made for a relative short period of time, there is a lot to be said about them. Models like the Record 400/450 (made by Sportex for ABU Sweden) are a rare find and highly sought after by collectors worldwide. Probably the first types produced were the Speedspin-series. All these had FIXED anti-reverse, referred to in advertisements as "AUTOMATIC". Speedspin models have a grey/silver metallic finish with black side-caps. In 1954 the Speedspin models were also produced for Record/ABU (Sweden) and GLIEBE (USA). Speedspin reels were probably only made in GERMANY from 1953 till mid-1954. So far we have seen the following models : 1) Speedspin River Automatic : single foot, grey/silver metallic with black side-caps 2) Speedspin River Deluxe : single foot, gold coloured body with black sidecaps 3) Speedspin Ocean Automatic : double foot with TWO holes, foot bend away from the spool 4) Speedspin Ocean Automatic : double foot with ONE hole, foot is bend away from the spool 5) ABU 400 : same as Speedspin River, with Sportex/Record 400 medaillon 6) ABU 450 : same as Speedspin Ocean, with Sportex/Record 450 medaillon 7) Gliebe 10 : same as Speedspin River, with Gliebe 10 medaillon 8) Gliebe 20 : same as Speedspin Ocean, with Gliebe 20 medaillon The next series produced by Sportex (as from the end of 1954 till probably around 1960) had an anti-reverse SWITCH underneath the spoolhouse, The switch had a red dot on one side and a green dot on the other side (anti-reverse on/off). These models were all BLACK coloured. Very interesting is the fact that the Sportex machinery for producing these reels was moved to England probably late 1955. An article in a New-Zeeland fishing magazines explains the sudden move to England as a result of war-compensation due by Germany to an English company (many thanks to Ian Kearney from N.-Z. for finding and providing his information on this article !). Now we know why the "black" series can be found in versions "Made in Germany" (1954-55) or "Made in England" (1955-60). Three basic-different models have been found so far : 1) Sportex 55 Germany and Sportex 55 England : single foot 2) Sportex Ocean 55 - made in Germany (not sure this model was continued in England) : double foot with ONE hole, foot is bend away from the spool 3) Sportex Saltwater 60 - Made in England : double foot with ONE hole, foot is bend towards the spool, probably only made in England (typenumber "60" could be referring to the year of introduction.)     These models can be found in a number of variations : - oldest models have a metal ring round the drag knob and the cap on the handle side had 4 radiating ribs for additional strength - at some time (for the models produced in England) the medaillon was changed to plastic, the earlier models all have a black painted metallic medaillon - the latest models of the "55" have a stronger-"S" shaped foot Sportex probably stopped producing spinning-reels around 1960-61. Spinning reels sold by Sportex as from that period were imported from Japan or Korea. In 1962 a model "Sportex Turbo Bronson" was advertised, wich is the same as the Johnson 63L spinning reel. Other models (like the Karmann Deluxe and Karmann nr. 41) were labeled "Specially made for Sportex". A japanese made Tina-Mite (copy of the Italian Alcedo Micron) was found with the same label. In the 1970's Sportex imported a lot of different spinning reels : the Turbo- , Goldstar- and TurboWing -series, to name few. This is were the Sportex story ends as we know it today, if anyone has some more information please feel free to contact me at jeanpaulceulemans@CASTskynet.be (remove the word CAST). I would especially like to thank Ben Wright (author of the book "The Wright Price Guide for the Reel Man") for sharing his knowledge and pictures! Anyone interested in fixed-spool reels should have a copy of his book. It contains information about more than 100 different manufacturers and over 3.650 different spinning reels! More info : www.orcaonline.org/wright.htm I also wish to thank Ian Kearney from New-Zeeland for his information on the Speedspin Ocean's! Article by: J.P. Ceulemans |