History The very first ever fiberglass 1932 ford roadster body

The pix show a 1932 Ford fiberglass roadster built by hand in 1959 by Jerry Cogswell. Jerry hand built the forms and laid the fiberglass by himself. Jerry believes it is the very first fiberglass 1932 Ford roadster body ever made. He raced the roadster in the Midwest in 1959 and the early 60's. The pictures were taken by the track photographer in 1959. You can contact Jerry at jerycar@aol.com. Jerry is a former member of the LA Roadster Club and is currently an associate member. He is a retired PanAm pilot, living in Los Lunas, New Mexico.

 

And the purpose of this thread is?

Oh what the hell sillier stuff posted here at times, bugger the glass car, what about that VW??

 

If he wasn't, he sure ranks in the top ten. It's good to know, even back then, someone had the foresight and intelligence to repo the holy grail of hotrodding, so more people could realize their dream without having to take a second on their homes.

 

Thats an interesting story but like Pete said that bug is the shit!

 

The pics were taken a little later than 59 because there's a 64 Chevy parked against the fence. Cool car though.

 

No that was a secret 1959 glass' prototype.

 

And what looks like a 67 Corvette with the hood up! Well that is Glass HAHA

 

Don't know if it's the first, but I do know that it's now my favorite glass Deuce roadster of all time because it was built to drag racing and not for the street back in the fifties, now that's just cool!

 

So, does this mean 'glass 32s are traditional?

 

That sure looks good, in the photo. I'll look around for the old Almquist Speed Shop catalog to confirn the 1961 date, they had a glass '32 Roadster body, but nothing as nice as the one Jerry made.

 

I believe Almquist did have the first COMMERCIALLY available fibreglass 32 roadster body although I must confess it was pretty crude as an exact replica;there were no rear wheel wells or door cut-outs and there were these ugly lumps on the back where you were supposed to mount tail lights.I only remember seeing one or two as finished cars in magazines and the detail just wasn't there.

 

Interesting

 

Well it would be easy to clone this one then........lol. But this is cool info

 

Guy created a monster.

 

Looks like a period correct drag car to me... So what if it's 'glass....

 

And what would be the purpose of a VW thread?

Bob

 

In 1959 32s were a little more accessible and cheaper than they are now. I suspect the purpose of the glass 32 was strictly weight savings for a race car. It's pretty amazing the lengths racers will go to for an edge.
Larry T

 

Yea it's glass but judging by some other 1950's fiberglass work I've seen, it likely wasn't a whole lot lighter than a steel body. The resins wern't very good back then, they had to lay 'em up thick.

 

I always thought the Almquist body was more of a '31 Model A, with lots of bad modifications. We had a guy bring us one at Ai thinking we would want to clone it! Both Dave and I said "no way" and sent him packing.

 

That's amazing. I know Jerry but did not know that he made that body (or if I did I forgot). He's a modest person but I know that if he says he did, he did.



I always thought Dee Wescott was the first commercially successful manufacturer in the 60's.

 

Dee Wescott magazine article from 1958. There not mentioning bodies just fenders and dashes but I'm sure bodies came soon after.

In 1958 - "New Steel body parts are almost non-existant, especially for the '28-32 series Fords"

 

Face it.32's were never cheap.It is all relative.
It may have been done for racing.There was already a bunch of glass available for the Willys then.

 

As I recall, Dee's first complete body was a '30-'31 Model A Coupe.

A John Brown from IL might have been the first with '32's around 1972. He did both the roadster and a touring. Then he and the molds went to Florida, but I haven't heard anything about him in 25 years.

Dwight Bond @ Gibbon Fiberglass in Nebraska was another of the very early manufacturers.

 

Dick Williams and Pollyform was selling glass at the same time Wescott was in the early days.

 

Jerry's current '32 roadster like the old one!!
Jerry & Carolyn are good friends of ours for many years---Don

 

Who are any of us to argue with Rich, he was there then building glass parts. What he says is gospel to me.

Honestly, unless its for racing........ do we realy care?

Doc.

 

Brown Mold Design and Martens Fabrication in Mendota, IL (1970) teamed up to produce some of the first 32 roadster reproduction frame rails and glass bodies. Both were of good quality. Mike won best roadster at the NSRA Nationals in Detroit. Archer Glass also built Deuce bodies but none compared to the Wescott body for quality and originality.

 

I would guess it would be trad if you were racing it and it was built back in the day.

I can't get up close for obvious reasons but it looks good from here. How did it run?

 

The Almquist one looked like a slice from a loaf of roadster bodies...sides were a completely flat slab, and as pointed out above the rear came down to same level as body sides like a Model A... I think the only surface details on the whole thing were pods for Pontiac taillights. It looked like absolute crap...either it was designed to be made in a one-piece rigid mold with no extraction problems or it was just laid out dimensionally without much reference to anything. It was always CALLED a '32 in the catalogs but I doubt anything in its heritage ever touched a real '32. Anybody here could make a better deuce replica out of plywood with nothing but a sabre saw.
But when was it introduced?? Anyone have a first appearance in the catalog date?
I'm thinking pretty close to 1960, but cannot produce a solid date for comparison here.

 

I agree...

It looks pretty bad.

Not sure you can count it as a 1932 Ford.