Thank you for posting this Bob. I would sure like to find out what it is. I have checked everywhere I can think of .. old Almquist adds, the Ladawri site, Devin sites, 50's & 60's Specials racing sites, etc. Most reactions to it are " Yep, I have seen one before, but don't remember where." The guy I got it from had it for 25+ years and said it was old when he got it. This little body was bought in Fallon, NV. and is hand laid up cloth about 1/4" thick. It is small ... 80" wheelbase, 130" long and 52" wide at the tail light bulges. It was all one piece with lines from the mold for the doors, deck lid and hood cast in. Some yo-yo cut the hood out (at least it is still with the body , trimmed the upper eyebrows off the headlights and sawed off the bottom of the rockers way back when. I am sure hoping someone on the HAMB will recognize it. Carl
Wow...Skate Fink...man is that thing neat! Dr. J...that's the first thing I thought when I saw the body too...wow,looks like a corvette dash...
I'm betting it was never intended for the street. My guess is an amusement ride for kiddies. Judging by the guy standing along side it, it couldn't have bigger than 12" tires. It looks to me like the metal plates above where the rockers should be are made to bolt to some kind of carraige like a ride. Maybe big enough for daddy to sit next to Jr. while he cranked his steering wheel on either side. It sure has some pretty lines.
I was thinking something like that too. Maybe a dwarf car from that town in North Jersey By the time you put floors and the lowest of seats in it, you would still look like Ali-Baba driving around on a swoopy magic carpet Unless, of course, you stuff a 8-71 blown hemi in it with direct drive and straddle the coupler to drive. Then people wouldn't laugh. But they might call the men-in-white-coats!
I'd venture to guess the sides are cut away so the body could sit on a Monocoque chassis like the Ford GT40's and Chaparral era cars that had the large sheet metal "boxes" for rocker-panel-frame-gas-tank function.
Some of these early bodies were made to re-body older production cars. So they will look like the swoopy GT & Sports racers of the '50s but they mate up with the track & wheelbase of something that would be cheap and easy to find ( at that time...) A Ford Anglia had a wheelbase of 90", a Fiat Topolino had a wheelbase of 78 3/4". That Body looks bigger than a Berkley, which was a production Microcar. I dont know what that one is, I cant remember seeing one like it... What are your plans with it?
Yep, the rockers were cut off and the metal plate was put on by the guy I got it from. He had a chassis that he was hacking the body up to try and fit it on. The body is seamed for the doors and deck lid to be cut like the hood was. I doubt that an amusment ride would have a trunk or hood. Carl
that body looks like one that was in late 50s popular mechanics or mechanics illistrated.they did how to s on a lot of rebody jobs back then even a glass over foam C cab truck "beach buggy" for a Crosley powertrain which I'd like to find copies of those articles.I seem to remember this body as a Crosley replacement for road racing.The guy who did the one I'm thinking of said in that article that if enough interest was shown he would make copies for sale.The hood on his car was removable for tuning or you could pull a few bolts and remove the body fron the frame the drivers compartment stayed with the floor and chassis.Now this is only my guess but in the pics in the mag theseat was realy reclined with a foot box along side the engine and you still were up outa that body pretty high
It was one of those "I gotta have it" ... spur of the moment buys! I reckon it will be another shop ornament! Sure wish it was larger ... I love the lines!
You could cut and shut it to fit something larger... I did a lot of work on a Berkley... I helped build a Bonneville Racer. We built the Buck out of a original body, and had the mold for the Race Car Body pulled from that. That early 'Glass is weird, smells way different than the modern stuff, but itches just as bad...
Did you work on either Hornbrook or Bonner's Berkley? I want a salt car, but I think there must have been 50 bodys made or you run without a class and for time only.
Bonner's Car. Worked on his Bocar too... ( I think I've got a pic of the Berkley somewhere that I could scan, but here is one of the Bocar ) They made enough Berkleys to go LSR racing in one, yours is probably to rare... I think a GT could be faster than a open cockpit car though. Something like a Abarth Zagato Double Bubble maybe, but stretch it out and give it the same streamlined nose treatment that we gave the Berkley...
Bonner is fast and the record holder still I think. Awesome car! Abarth Zagato Double Bubble salt car? $$$ I did a smooth and stretched 240Z salt car. It looks as fast as Bonner's car is, but they can't get the power to the salt.
He holds the record? Cool... He has a lot of Horsepower in that thing. Not really... If you can find a car to take a mold off. I might go back to the Salt someday... Build something cool to Race there. May not even be Traditional.
Who cares what it is unless you are lookig to flip it. I say build a badass Bonneville racer to fit one of the 4cyl classes or something...now THAT would be cool!
If I could find out what it was and there was 50 bodys made ... there is a B-ville class it could run. If not ... it would be for time only.
How about building it into something you could take to the HAMB Drags instead? Whats the wheelbase? Here is a pic of the Mooneyes Devin...
Might try this page and see if it fits any of these, I didn't know Almquist made so many different bodies. http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/sales-lit/bysub/kit-cars-and-replicars/almquist/index.shtml I had a Victress S4 and had a bunch of literature and none that I remember looked like this one. I have to agree that maybe it was a Go kart or Carny ride car. Maybe Disney, Looks similiar to a Disney Grand Prix car.
make a little road racer out of it. you should have no problem building a nice tube frame chassis for it. and it would look so cool. and be a lot more usefull than a purpose built bonneville car (but you could still run it there and have fun)
Pretty cool. I'm sure if you got it on the road everywhere you went you'd have "experts" telling you what it was all the time! I picture it done like a muntz jet. '50's styled sports car for the street. Stock american v8 powered. Maybe a stude, with those side draft carbs to clear the hood.
I'd still like to see a full grown person sit in there holding a steering wheel. Maybe go vroom vroom vroom
Creative Glass Works inc.claims to be the largest manufacturer of glass auto bodies and parts in the UStheir in Tenn. 423 569 6359 or fax423 569 2274 ceativeglas.com I have one of their old catalogs mabey they can tell you what you have?
It looks like a body for a vintage road race 4cyl. car. There were companys in the 60's making fiberglass bodys to rebody small english cars for racing. Thats what it looks like to me. You should watch the Goodwood festival on Speed channel today you would see what I am talking about. CBB
Fom the nose I almost sure it is called a LYNX and they were almost exacly like devins. They were made for Crosley's and modified triumps and Mg's. They also came in different length and withs to fit Henry J's and american chasis. It in the Big Book of kitcars. google a guy named Harold Pace and you can email him (writer/photographer about sports car one offs and specials).
I was thinking there was some mob who used to make a body for Mini's, might be worth looking at what the brits had, they pretty much had the little cars sewn up.
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