The 5500C is the high-speed 5000C.
The faster gear set takes more load per turn of the handle, and a reel that has been cranked hard for decades can feel rough or notchy.
Price range is INFERRED from completed eBay listings; verify against current sold comps before bidding.
33 5500Cs are listed (1 for parts), and the market is soft: working reels sit at $40–65 delivered, and the cheapest Swedish reel here is $37.50 with free shipping. It's a 5000C-size reel with faster gearing. Nothing left in this snapshot is described as tested, so plan on a clean and fresh grease; the one cleaned reel costs $146.55, more than double the band. Don't pay case-included or parts-reel prices above working ones. Budget buyers should take the $37.50 Swedish reel; collectors, the early Swedish example at $59.
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 1, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ — eBay shows your exact total before you buy.
A standard-speed Swedish 5500C at $37.50 with free shipping, the lowest total on a complete reel and below the $40–65 band, from a 99.7% seller on Buy It Now. It isn't described as tested, but even after a clean and new brake blocks you'd still be under the typical price.
Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C Baitcasting Reel Made in Sweden
Listed as an early Swedish 5500C at $58.95 delivered with Best Offer from a 100% seller, inside the typical $40–65 band. It costs about $21 more than the cheapest reel and nothing says tested, so ask whether the brake blocks are intact and the drag is smooth.
Vintage ABU GARCIA EARLY AMBASSADEUR 5500C FISHING REEL - Sweden
Listed as an early Swedish 5500C at $58.95 delivered with Best Offer, inside the typical band, so any early-production premium is essentially free. Ask for a sharp foot-stamp photo to confirm the date before treating it as early.
Vintage ABU GARCIA EARLY AMBASSADEUR 5500C FISHING REEL - Sweden
Classed for parts or not working at $54 delivered, which is more than the $37.50 working Swedish reel. It only makes sense as a donor for side plates or a star drag, and only if the seller accepts an offer near $30.
Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C Vintage Baitcasting Fishing Reel
Snapshot captured — listings may have ended
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 1, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ — eBay shows your exact total before you buy.
UsedAbu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C Baitcasting Reel Made in Sweden
$37.50 · free shipping
Standard-speed Swedish 5500C at $37.50 with free shipping, below the typical band.
fullsavvyflips
99.7% positive from 1.9K ratings
UsedVintage ABU GARCIA EARLY AMBASSADEUR 5500C FISHING REEL - Sweden
$50.00 + $8.95 shipping
This seller takes offers, and sellers often accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Listed as early production but priced like an everyday reel. Confirm the foot stamp to date it.
bloomingba98
100% positive from 173 ratings
For partsAbu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C Vintage Baitcasting Fishing Reel
$48.00 + $6.00 shipping
This seller takes offers, and sellers often accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
Classed for parts but priced above a working Swedish reel. Offer around $30 or skip.
friendlybuys12
99.7% positive
UsedSUPER CLEAN ABU GARCIA AMBASSADEUR 5500C BLACK CASTING FISHING REEL
$65.00 + $8.50 shipping
"Super clean" black reel at $73.50 delivered, above the band on cosmetics alone. Seller feedback is 98.9%.
creelnut
98.9% positive from 5.6K ratings
UsedAbu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C Fishing Reel Reels Sweden Vintage With Case
$125.00 + $10.00 shipping
This seller takes offers, and sellers often accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
Want it for sure? Use Buy It Now.
The case doesn't justify $135 delivered, about double typical for a 5500C. Offer low or pass.
bestbuy4u1016
99.3% positive from 2.8K ratings
ServicedVintage Abu Ambassadeur 5500C Casting Reel Sweden ++ Smooth & Cleaned +++
$125.00 + $21.55 shipping
Cleaned and smooth, but $146.55 delivered is more than double typical. A clean-and-grease costs far less.
preeda1971
100% positive from 1.6K ratings
Prices and availability change daily. The full, current search on eBay shows every matching listing, including new ones since Oct 1, 2026.
See all current listings on eBay ⟶The 5500C is the high-speed 5000C. When anglers began asking for faster retrieves, ABU answered in 1973 with this reel, its first high-speed Ambassadeur, geared at nearly 5-to-1 instead of the standard ratio of a little over 3½-to-1.
Apart from the gearing it is the familiar Swedish ball-bearing 5000-size reel, with the same star drag, centrifugal brake and level wind, so it suits crankbaits and other fast-retrieve lures better than its slower sibling. ABU also made a thumb-bar version, the 5600C, from 1977, and a short run of chocolate-brown 5500 presentation reels in the mid-1970s.
Because it is usually bought to fish rather than to display, the 5500C is one of the better-value classic Ambassadeurs: our latest snapshot found more than 30 listings, most around $40 to $65 delivered. Cased examples asking well over $100 are charging for the case more than the reel.
Check the gears closely, because a fast retrieve works them harder than the standard gearing does.
