Above, the so-called rod gear was actuated by a rod behind the saddle.
Chain slack was taken up by ratcheting the rear axle forwards or
backwards in the toothed droupout. 1949.

Above, left to right: Record 1963, Gran Sport 1955, Gran Sport 1952.
The parallelogram which revolutionized gear changing.

Above: Nuovo Record, introduced in 1967.
Nothing else at the time came close to its precision and reliability.

Above: the Nuovo Record was a racing derailleur.
Until the advent of the Campag Rally in 1974, tourists often
resorted to making their own long cages to take up more chain slack.

Above: the successor to Nuovo Record was the Super Record,
introduced in 1974, final year of production 1987.
The basic design was the same, but it
featured exotic-alloy bolts and black trim.

Above (2 fotos): In 1983 Tullio Campagnolo died,
and the 50th Anniversary Group was released.

Above (3 fotos): in 1987 Cinelli offered a special edition,
called the Golden Black, featuring extensively
re-worked Super Record components.

Above: the Super Record was succeeded by the C Record group,
featuring 6-speed indexing and a more rounded design.

By the 1990s, Campag were offering several group sets
in different quality and price ranges, for both racing and touring.
Above is the Chorus long cage model, 1993, featuring
a swivelable parallogram with A and B positions
for close- or wide-ratio blocks.
The mech above is in the A (close-ratio) position.
Note also that the parallelogram now runs
parallel to the chain, unlike the design
from the Gran Sport to the C Record.
This allows the cage to follow the gradient
of the block as it shifts up and down.

Above: the Record side-pull brake, from 1968,
was light years ahead of everything else
on the market at the time for
stopping power, and were the only
side-pulls which reliably stayed centered.

The Record brake remained largely unchanged
until it was replaced by the C Record Delta, above.
Deltas had fabulous stopping power and modulation;
probably the handsomest brakes ever designed.

Above: the Delta mechanism is all underneath
a coverplate, well protected against grit.
Deltas had disadvantages however:
they were heavier than the dual-pivot designs
coming out of Japan at the time,
they cost as much as some frame sets, and
they could be used only with very low-profile tyres.

The Record aluminum double-ring crankset
with four-sided taper axle was the
standard for racing machines for decades,
replacing earlier steel cotter-pin designs.
For tourists, Campag offered a triple (above)
from 1967, but they are seldom seen.

Above: C Record crankset, front mech, and pedals.

Above, the famous yellow box (Nuovo Record)
and blue box (Super Record).

Click here for Chuck Schmidt's invaluable Campagnolo timeline at velo-retro.com.