Modena Italy Gladiator Reels

[Tightlines667]

Has anyone ever heard if the Modena reels from Italy?

[Robert Janssen]

Yes. Why?

Looks like you've got a 6/0 in a cradle there?

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[Shark Hunter]

funky cold medina?

[Tightlines667]

I'd never seen them before and ran across this one for sale locally.  Externally they look a little like cross between an Everol and the old style FinNors.  I assume they don't have a hydraulic fluid filled chamber.  It'd be interesting to service her. 

[BMITCH]

I'd never seen them before and ran across this one for sale locally.  Externally they look a little like cross between an Everol and the old style FinNors.  I assume they don't have a hydraulic fluid filled chamber.  It'd be interesting to service her. 

What were they asking for it? What about that rod it's attached to?

[Bryan Young]

That's a collector piece right there.

[Robert Janssen]

I assume they don't have a hydraulic fluid filled chamber.  

No, not at all. Quite simple, mechanically speaking. You shouldn't have any trouble with servicing it, although new parts may be a little tricky to come by.

They were and are still quite well known, and manufactured around 1967-1972 by a fellow named J.C. Rosetti and a company called OFMER. The torch was passed a few times, and the reels were sold for a time with the name Mitchell President. Some of the heritage remains in the reel business even to this day.

They aren't exactly rare, but a little unusual nowadays. Some collector interest for unusual or special examples. They come up on Ebay from time to time.

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[Tightlines667]

Gladiator reel & custom 'Blue Royal' pole ... $625obo.    It's in town here, so if someone wants it and seller is not willing to ship to ML, I might be able to help out.

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/spo/4278994119.html

Like I said, I'm not familiar w/ this setup or how 'rare' it actually is.

[BMITCH]

Tightlines! Thanks for the link and posting it.
Bob

[Shark Hunter]

Yes, Thanks for sharing John. That a cool looking setup.

[Robert Janssen]

Just noticed that the seller says it has dual speeds.

No... no, i'm quite certain that it is not a two-speed, and feel quite sure that Gladiator didn't make any. Not 100% sure on that, but still...

(part of a longer story... I know a fellow who was going to write a book about them; I provided a great deal of the information for him. And I just don't recall any two-speeds being mentioned.)

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[Shark Hunter]

I don't see a shift lever.

[JoMa]

My friend has one under the name Mitchell President 6.0 and I have serviced it once when a cow pulled so hard that it broke his rod holder and his rod and reel went for a dive
It's built like a tank, and the interesting thing is that all bearings on it are doubled (as far as I can remember, 6 or 7 years passed since) so the spool is not on 2 but on 4 bearings. The drag is not carbon fiber, but it's made from similar material to that used on disk brake pads. I found some info about it on the net and, I think that I got a schematics from Mitchell maybe, but I lost it when my HDD went dead.

[OldSchool]

This line of reels were made in Italy by J.C. Rossetti Co. who was in business from 1967 - 1970. The plant and the reel line were then sold to Mitchell of France who then offered it for three years as the "Mitchell President. I believe in its day it was approx $5,000 new. There about but would consider them hard to find and ive seen them advertised for sale for 300-500ea

[Shark Hunter]

Wow! Funky Cold Medina, like I thought!