Ben Smith's roof designs didn't stop with the Ford Skyliner's... | Hemmings Those who knew of engineer Ben J. Smith most likely knew of him for his retractable hardtop design for the Ford Skyliner, as we covered in our article on his life earlier this week. However, his fertile imagination didn't stop there, and as we see from reading through his book “Skyliner: The Birth of the Retractable,” he came up with a number of other innovations in roof design. To start with, Smith didn't just drop the idea of a retractable hardtop after Ford executives transferred it from the Continental Mark II to the Ford Skyliner. He wrote that he did discuss the possibility of adapting the roof to the Edsel with that car's chief engineer, but those discussions never amounted to anything serious, and Smith dispelled any rumors that a factory Edsel convertible hardtop exists. As if those Mark III roofs weren't enough, Smith also envisioned what he called a limousine station wagon dubbed the La Tourian. From the side drawing, it appears Smith was more concerned with fitting a full-size adult into a third row above the rear axle than with adding daylight openings. According to Smith, the mechanical prototype that resulted used a Mercury station wagon's rear sheetmetal, windshield, and tailgate; Smith wrote that he drove it around the Detroit area for six months or so in 1958 and 1959 and claims that GM later appropriated the design for the Vista Cruiser. We know now that Pete Wozena gets credit for designing the Vista Cruiser's roof, so perhaps he and Smith crossed paths at some point.
Zora Duntov rebuilt this 1954 test mule Corvette with 1956 Corvette body work and took it to Daytona in January 1956. He drove this "1956" prototype Corvette, with a 3-speed manual transmission and 307-ci engine, to a new record speed of 150.583 mph (two-way average) for the Flying Mile
Here is the Duntov 1954 test mule with 1956 bodywork (center), with John Fitch and Betty Skelton. 1956 Corvette Team at Daytona Speed Week.
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