Customs strange body, any guess what?

Cool, what's your build plans for it?

 

I have some where a mag artical with that body on a tube frame and a 392. I have always wanted one! I have the doors from a Kellison body and have dreams of building a car. I also have brochure I sent away for for the LaDawri shells

 

Build plan... This is the"Need that" like another hole in the head! But in my self convincing way, I say Sooo will you Ever find a vintage nos body like this, No! I have some Amazing parts that could make this "that" car.. For now it will be on ice, till a couple in front work there way out the door... It really does get my mind working in Devious way's though)

 

Pic's found

 

Think the Cheetah is one of the sexiest car's Ever made!

 

Thanx for buying it. I was starting to think like Beaner.
This could be great thread. Get everyone involved in the design process. Submit suggestions and get the photo shop guys to do renderings.
At the end you could have contest or raffle it off.
Id like to see it with a fabbed chassis, roll bars and a lot of motor, similar to the Kellison drag racer posted above. No flopper body, though.

 

Andy, I think the one your thinking of was the roadster version, 1953 car craft, injected hemi,Kurtis kraft torsion suspension, tube chassis, w/a Halibrand.. Went 203mph. Both ways at Bonneville

 

From a google image search, Maserati A6:


Note the outside pipes, that sinister roof line, wheels high in the openings. There's a lot of cars you can take inspiration from. I just searched "vintage berlinetta" and this was 1 that popped up. It's 'glass so you can style it many different ways. An early Ferarri came up too, you might try vintage mille miglia too. Imagine a wrecked later Alfa to steal the drivetrain from. Maybe a later Jag 6 (big power, strong and reliable), or any number of DOHC engines in cars today.

 

Were the Victress bodies made to fit on an existing chassis? If so, what was it? What chassis/drivetrain would have been the pick of choice for a sportscar builder in the 50's or 60's? I've often dreamed of building one, but a pre-existing chassis with drivetrain would really make it easier. Seems like most existing chassis would place the engine up too high or too far forward over the front wheel centerline for good proportions.

 

I would start with a mid-70's C-3 Corvette chassis. They are cheap and available and have a 98-inch wheel base. A four inch cut out of the center of the frame gives the proper wheel base for this body. The engine placement would be about right. You could keep the Vette VIN and title to save all those registration problems.

 

Found out today that Merrill Powell the creator of the Victress C2/C3 is alive an well at 86, I'm going to give him a call this week an find out as much as I can...It's said that they made 35ish of the C3 coupe early/mid 50's.. Then Victress sold to LaDawri 60-61, They are believed to have made about 150 if I'm correct, the brochure says the C2 was for MG/bug an C3 was for a Ford chassis, early Hemis where a common choice for engine's...Neat side note, Victress made the Bob's big boy characters

 

Really like this one!

 

Track width on a C3 is 58+ inches, the Victress C2 was designed for a chassis with a 50" track. A Corvette would make a better chassis for a Victress C3.

 

I saw that, but then it also says 70" overall width. Did they measure the track differently back then, as a 10" per side difference is quite a bit?

This is really cool!

 

Looking forward to this build. It looks like a lot of fun!

 

Lil' more HistoryVictress, "pretty enough to be a movie star"
Although the Victress would fall in the category of a "kit" car, there were at least four and probably more that were assembled by the factory. Boyce "Doc" Smith, owner of Victress, produced less than 40 bodies. At a time when fiberglass was still in its infancy, finishing 10% as running automobiles was an accomplishment in itself. The fact that Doc offered 4 body styles was even more amazing.

The most popular of the 4 was the S-1, a beautiful little roadster that had the looks to rival any European car of the day One of the production models even starred in Johnny Dark, a 1952 movie about a cross country road race, starring Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie. The car was called the Thunderbird (Hmmmmm) in the movie and shared its spotlight with a Grantham Stardust, Kurtis Sportster, Glasspar, and of course, the major star of the film, a Woodill Wildfire (Idaho Special). If you have an interest in these cars, you should certainly get a copy of the film to view.

The S-1 had a wheelbase of 99", using a shortened early Ford frame. 'me running gear consisted of a new Studebaker V-8 engine with Edmonds two carburetor aluminum manifold. 3/4 race cam, domed pistons and dual exhaust. Couple that with a body that weighs next to nothinT and a quick shift standard gear box an look out! The car you see today was built by Jack Manion of Burbank. It has never been restored and is now with its second owner Wallace Lee.

Besides the S-1, they had another roadster which looked like a cross between a '53 Studebaker and a '55 Thunderbird. Although very American in appearance, its simplicity of form was extremely pleasing to the eye. The best looking of the bunch was a hardtop coupe named the C-3. Its styling for 1952 was breathtaking. It kind of makes you wonder why Detroit didn't hire some of these guys for stylists. The final, a dragster body, was never produced in anyd-dn but a body Two other bodies that loo ed essentially like the S-1 and C-3, but were on very small wheelbases, may have also been produced for very small people.

Victress had one distributor for their cars. That was the Hellings Co. located on Vanowen St. in North Hollywood. Hellings, later formed a partnership with R.J. Stellings to sell automotive accessories. They even made the air cleaners for Muntz. Hellings, - Stellings Co. is still in business and owner R. J. Stellings is with us today.

The Victress is truly one of the pioneers of the "fiber-sports" era of the early 50's and deserves our tribute.

FREDERICK J. ROTH
Copyright June 2003

 

Neato!

 

Well I hadn't even thought of a flopper. Can you imagine dropping into the local 7/11 and popping it open to get out?

 

Man, you guys are something else. Ive been hot rodding my whole life and come from a hot rod family, even worked in one of the greatest wrecking yards in the country, Turners in Fresno, Ca for 2 years when I was a kid and I had absolutely NO idea what the hell that was. You guys come right up with this shit, no problem. Only thing I can figure is "your all cheaters"...every frikkin' one of ya!

 

'53 Studebaker hubcaps? Congrats! Such a cool part of automotive history.

 

I talked with Merrill Powell the creator of the C2 / C3, he said I have a C2 because it has shaped rear wheel wells, the C3 you cut your own depending on what chassis you used... The strange part this body has the C3 tread/width of 58" s, an the low 90" s wheelbase...

 

Looks cool to me also. In the mid to late 1950s,these type sports cars seemed very high on my cool car list of things to build as it was with many others. My Dad was into them also even though I was a bit more into hotrods,still we did do a Dad n Son one in 57 using a Jabro body. Here I am next to our home made sportscar in one of the shows we took it too in 58,this one was in Clearwater Fl. put on by the Block Busters CC, I did pinstriping an painted names on cars an signs plus did t-shirts at the shows 4 extra cash under my art name "The Bat" out of hell.

 

No cheatin' here....just old as dirt and I know some stuff. And how do you cheat when identifying stuff??

 

Move'n tires up to the second floor...

 

Do it. Do it. Do it.

 

Looks good, but I would radius the rear wheel openings a bit.

 

Dana, I want that one. I can see that with wall to wall slicks and a motor that won't fit under the hood.

 

YES, YES, YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!

 

Now that`s a swell looking body.Great starting point for a really sweet fun ride.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo