Was Ghia involved in this body made for GM, first picture ? I too like the Olds' Corvette. It was cool that they shared platforms amongst each other then. This is one of my favorite reads of late. Keep going.
This is the Pontiac Club de Mer or XP-200. I tried for a couple days and all could find was it was a Harley Earl design ( of course ) and first shown at the 56 GM Motorama. A sneak peak and it looks like its going to auction again this year. Last price paid, 75k This is the best pick I got of this Buick last night. The Wildcat 2 The Pontiac Bonneville Special. I'm not a fan of continental spare looks except on a Lincoln Old's Cutlass. this car is RAD. A shame as it appears to be one of the lost GM Motorama concept cars
I'm not sure, but when I search the Ghia cars pic's of this do show up. I don't like spending much time on the computer as I get too frustrated with the information being incorrect or searches getting off track so quick. I have been doing a little looking into the Ghia cars and there is good information on them. From my perspective most of them are more of a GT car and not a sports car. Its to bad that Ford moved away from the 2 seater Thunderbird in 58. Increased sales was the game. Other than the short life of the Cobra and a few street GT40's, Ford never played in the sports car area long except in racing.
blowby,thanks for posting. if that's yours Congratulations The Lance Reventlow Scarab. I forgot about this car lately. One of the best looking sports cars ever. I think only 3 were ever built.
I have never seen this Thunderbird. Built in 55 by Clarkaiser. Also first I have heard of the builder.
The Rondine Show Car, built by Pininfarina on a 63 split window chassis. Designed by Michigan native Tom Tjaarda who was working for the Italian firm. Steel body car.
You may not know the shop, but you probably have seen their work. Clarkaiser (Ron Clark, Bob Kaiser) were located in Detroit, and built many famous cars, including Larry Ernst's '52 Ford, and the "Bobby Darrin Dream Car" (i.e. the "DiDia"). Check them out at Kustomrama, or at Rikster's. http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Clarkaiser
Not mine but could be yours. For sale now on San Francisco Craig's List. Search Scarab for more photos and (gulp) price.
That looks like one of the recreations from Scarab Motorsports. Fact,at that price I know it is. Labor prices in Poland must have gone through the roof as the Kirkham Cobras have doubled also.
heres my 58 corvette that I sold this past summer, kustomized in 1960 and heres my 57 tbird that I just picked up
Bill Thomas had something going for a while. He built a short run of Chevy powered sports cars he called Cheetahs.
The Joe Ortiz-built, Jimmy Jimenez '56 T-Bird knocked me out when it first appeared in the early sixties, especially in its original green version. I also liked this Corvette, built by fiberglass specialist Bob McNulty. Note the louvered hood (done in aluminum).
That's the original Sting Ray. GM stylist Bill Mitchell bought the chassis from the "mule" Corvette SS and had his crew (including hot rodder and Indy pit man Larry Shinoda) design the body. Other employees produced the panels and installed them on the chassis, then painted it silver. Mitchell kept the car at his home and often drove it from Bloomfield Hills to work. It won two national class championships in SCCA racing, I think in 1959 and '60. Mitchell later had "his" car painted red ("All Corvettes are RED"), and relocated it and a few other factory kustoms to his winter home in Florida, convenient to the filming locations of Elvis's boat racing movie "Clambake". Many years later, GM re-acquired the Sting Ray, and repainted it in its original silver. Funny thing I've noticed in "Clambake". There is a scene maybe halfway through where Elvis is driving Shelley Fabares in the Sting Ray, supposedly in Florida where the title sequence and "gas station" scenes WERE filmed. But the background shows clearly they are "driving" south along the coast road west of LAX (!) , you can see the Santa Monica skyline behind them. Maybe the car was shipped across the country (there were some obvious studio shots where the car would pull up to the hotel, etc.) but Elvis movies were all done fast and cheap. I personally think they were filmed in front of a blue screen, then the background was processed onto the footage. Watch the movie and see what you think
Andre DiDia was a famous designer and stylist back then. I think he did the sketches used to build the "Darrin" car.
Some Ghia's. I have a hard time calling most of the Ghia cars sports cars as they were built on a big car or touring type car chassis. So I just picked out a few that looked like sports cars. While most of them are good looking cars, They just don't turn my crank like an American built custom. The first pic is my favorite of these few. For Chrysler Not sure about this one but the front is butt ass ugly in my sight so just walk behind her. Another Chrysler. Looks like they borrowed a set of T-Bird wires and the windshield. Still, this grille is influencing Chrysler. The Desoto Adventurer 2, sports car ? at least its trying to be one.
Briggs Swift Cunningham 2. From changing the shape of sailing to racing at Le Mans. 1950 he took 2 1950 Caddys to Le Mans and brought home a 10th & 11th overall. A great story to read. All were powered by the Chrysler Hemi except one Offey powered car The C1, 1951 The C2R. 1951 Le Mans cars C2, 1953 street car built to homoligate his racing efforts C4R and C4RK, 1952 Le Mans cars also ran 1954. 4th overall at Le Mans and 1st at Sebring. in 54 finished Le Mans in 3rd and 5th. C5R, 1953 Le Mans car. To reduce scrub at the front and for lighter weight this car has a straight axle. 17" brakes and faster on the Mulsanne Straight than the Jag's, the lighter and better handling Jag won and this C5r came in 3rd. C6R, Offey powered. Retired the 55 Le Mans event , ate a piston after suffering trans problems. Although not Customs, they are Hot Rods. After 55 Cunningham ran Lister Jag's & Jaguar D types and became a Jag dealer. Later went on to race Corvette's
I forgot to add that one to the baby birds I posted. That is my favorite custom baby bird bar none. Saw it in the flesh at the Detroit Autorama a couple years ago....drooled all over it for a good 20-30 minutes
Ive never really been into sports cars but there are a few I like exceptionally and these are at the top of my list. followed by early vettes and porsche, I may even like any of em better if I ever had the chance to drive one.
Dick Jackson's 'Bird was customized when new, and famous in its day. The Barris -built Mitch Nagao 'Bird also recieved a lot of coverage.