A dear family friend bought me a Schwinn Tornado in about 1960. It was red. I CHERISHED that bike.
A few years later, I saved up enough money for the Stingray handlebars and a banana seat.
It was a larger version of the Stingray.
In my mind, anyway.
My brother inherited the bike, and trashed it.
I still miss my Schwinn Tornado.
In 1966, my parents promised me a Schwinn Stingray if I advanced to the smart kids reading group in my first grade class. I did, and I got the bike. It was my pride and joy. One night, I forgot to bring it inside, left it out on the lawn. It was stolen. I have missed that bike ever since. I had to go back to riding an old one speed that had a removable top bar so it could be a boys or girls bike. I had had a wreck with that bike, and bent the frame, so the top bar wouldn’t go back in place It was thus a girls bike. I learned a valuable lesson about human nature from that theft.