So first off came the Abu 505 1 st version which dated from 1962, it first came with no serial number and no steel liner inside the cowling, there was also many differences in the reels workings like the main gear shaft, the locking nut on the handle and the fact it had dust cap around the handle port. The spool also had variations.
The same reel was available for the American market in the shape of the GARCIA 505, same identical reel just a different sticker and the box and paperwork was different.
The second version 505 had the steel liner put inside the cowling to re-enforce the cowlings edge, without it Abu came across problems with the original chipping or cracking which in turn broke or snagged the main line from the reel. Box was the same for this reel and again no serial number to speak of.
In 1968 the reel remained the same but the box color and shape changed, it went from the black and red box to an all green box and oddly came without a spare spool.
One thing many may not know is that ABU made K boxes or a kit box, I have only ever seen one and I owned it, was a presentation prize for someone in the USA, it had a rod, reel, reel pouch, lure box with lures in , some grease and a book to read, a seriously rare item.
In the 1970's the reel also took a change of paint, it went from the crinkly finish to a smooth painted finish which was probably a good way to keep the reel free from dirt and ground bait, there was also a sticker change too and the box went from green to blue.The handle was also changed from red to black smooth paint finish. This packaging and reel went on until 1979 and the only change was the box shape, became better known as the squat box.
During the earlier years of the 505 (1968) Abu released the 503 (520 for Garcia) came in the green box like the 505, a rare reel and box combination to find, again just like the 505 it went through the smooth paint finish and a box change to a blue box, it also went on a little later than the 505 as a 503 fishes box was found which would date the reel to 1981-82.
Below you can also see these reels were made for the American market, the early reel with crinkle paint finish had the really deep gold cowling
while the later smooth paint finish had a lighter more copper color cowling, the two differences in the reels. The first picture shows the 1968 European version of the 503 with Svangsta sticker on the side plate, look how gold the cowling is on this beauty
With the 1970's fast approaching and flying by Abu then made the 506 & 507, both came in the green card box and the 507 was also made for the American market though the yanks found the reel something of a poor mans reel, realy
This reel was again the European version, the reel for the American market had a red Garcia sticker on the box and paper work but also had a red "G" on the drag knob found mainly on Abumatics. Both the 507 and 506 came along in 1972
With the 507 the version you see above actually had the 506 handle on it so it would fit in the poly box properly, later when it went over to the blue box the handle was actually longer. This bit of info is important for those who may want to collect there reels and wonder why the box wont close without the handle making a hole in the lid.
Reels stayed pretty much the same in the 70's and the 506 was one of them, variations in the finish color of the cowling was one thing and a sticker change when they removed the name Svangsta from their first reel in the green card box. The reel was sold in new packaging with the box being blue in color, there was also a slight color change in the cowling, the early reel was very dark grey to look at.
Also below is the first attempt to make a chenille to prevent line from getting under the winding bell, it was pretty pathetic as it turns out as the plastic would just become brittle and break.
.1973 saw Abu's first step into and sole "lefty" closed face reel in the shape of the 508, a rare reel to find in a box, never was changed at all and was finished in 1982, again for any collector it means both the 507 and 508 were available in the fish box.
In 1978 the 506M came through, this reel was purely aimed at the match angler with the reel using a well made shallow plastic spool with the red chenille around the base to prevent line from getting tangled under the winding bell, with all the previous models like the 505,503, 506, 507 and 508 metal spools were used only on the 1974 506 spool did the plastic chenille base ring come into use, they did exact same thing with the Cardinal 44 eXpress, really was a horrid attempt to make reels usable for Match anglers that was until this reel came around. We can add also the 501 to this stable of reel, again aimed purely at the match angler but this time using a complete different set of internals so the reel functioned different to all the others when using the drag system. This reel too used the shallow spool with red chenille but for me was the weakest geared reel of all, works in a great way but the materials used to make the gears really were poor and the major issue was when taking off the winding bell, often or not the winding bell would stick and be a nightmare to remove, many tried to remove them only to get a graunching sound as the main gear turned on the pinion gear half stripping the teeth off of the main gear, this in effect would make the reel feel rough in a certain area when wound and give you a horrid noise on the reel. I thought I had cured it one day using a winding bell from a 506 but alas that failed when I tried to put the cowling back on, the original 501 winding bell is shallower than the 506 and so when the reel was wound the winding bell would stick in the top of the cowling
Below are some pictures of the 506M you can see clearly a difference in the cowlings, as far as I know the only change the reel had apart from the boxes
I did have several great pictures of the 501 but they were lost when the hard drive went bang, I will see what I can find to cover them and yes they will be my pictures folks.
Its here folks I would like to say THE END but we all know that wont happen, next up "SERVICE REELS"
