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The 1951 Lancer... First of the Fiberglass Sports

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Oct 4, 2012.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,754

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

  2. BeatnikPirate
    Joined: May 21, 2006
    Posts: 1,416

    BeatnikPirate
    Member
    from Media, Pa.

    Never saw this one before. I used to really hate fiberglass cars, except for the early Corvettes. Lately I've come to appreciate some of them,especially the early homebuilt or cottage industry fiberglass-bodied cars like the Lancer. Fiberglass really was a lightweight and versatile material which allowed for a high degree of creative freedom in body style.
    Here's a cool website for those who may be interested.
    http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/?page_id=245
     
  3. boldventure
    Joined: Mar 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,766

    boldventure
    Member

    Too bad about those bumpers! If some one could photshop them off and add small tight bumperettes or nerfs the car would look pretty good. The one profile that doesn't include them is pretty nice.
     
  4. woah
    pretty hard to convince me the GM folks did not use this as a early basis for the 1st vette so many things look alike

    anybody know how the mold looked was it two halves top and bottom ,side to side or split down the middle or smaller ?
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2012

  5. I just watched the recent "Loud and fast" where they buy that 53 Wildfire. Man, a souped up flathead, three speed and a columbia rear end in a light weight sports car...I could see where they would be FUN! And very valuable.
     
  6. notrod13
    Joined: Dec 13, 2005
    Posts: 1,020

    notrod13
    Member
    from long beach

    hey yall Hatfield restorations in texas just finished one of these glaspars.... the thing is beautiful with tons of racing history . the actual car used to race in pebble beach when those folk still had a pair of nuts.. the power plant is a arden headed tuned to perfection flatty!... these cars are still out there for the picking . Dale at Hatfield told me in search for parts they came across yet another one and the price was right! so it was picked up...


    awesome
     
  7. eddie1
    Joined: Jul 27, 2006
    Posts: 568

    eddie1
    Member

    Custom early Corvette was my 1st thought before reading the story. You are right about the bumpers, they look like crap on an otherwise great looking car.
     
  8. jroberts
    Joined: Oct 14, 2008
    Posts: 1,658

    jroberts
    Member

    I had never heard of this car until now. I wonder if there were any modifications to the Champion engine that was used. Oh, and like everybody else the bumpers really look horrible to me. Maybe in the later editions of the car something else was used, like maybe a small nerf bar kind of set up....I hope.
     
  9. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That's one of the better looking glass bodies out of that era. I don't remember seeing much on them though.

    The bumpers are ugly and probably came on the doner car that gave up it's chassis. Designing and building custom bumpers for something like that would have been pretty spendy even in early 1050's $$.
     
  10. goetzcr
    Joined: Jul 21, 2010
    Posts: 123

    goetzcr
    Member

    I have no beef with glass body cars. True, some of the kits out there are pretty bad (i.e. Fiero-rraris, VW bug Fords). However, some kit builds show a lot of innovation and high quality customization from home builders (just like hot rodding). They provide a good basic platform that can be built on in lots of ways. My dad built a Cobra kit. It's fun, fast, and good looking, and because it was a less expensive kit, he applied lots of fabrication skills and ingenuity to end up with the car he wants to own and drive.
     
  11. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,005

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  12. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,005

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Ray Erickson did his share of fiberglass work starting in the '50s. Here's one:


    Sorry, temporarily lost my mind. A full fendered '31 roadster does not belong in this thread, even if all the fenders were fiberglass built in the '50s.
     
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2012
  13. autobilly
    Joined: May 23, 2007
    Posts: 3,123

    autobilly
    Member

  14. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    Does nobody but me know the difference between a flat engine and a flathead engine? How old is this Jive Bomber, 12?
     
  15. speedyb
    Joined: May 12, 2010
    Posts: 484

    speedyb
    Member
    from socal

    I'm no lover of glass but that Lancer ok with me !
     
  16. I am at the age where I can appreciate the classy lines of the Lancer,,remember fiberglass was a new material to work with at that time,,

    Personally,I think it's a great looking car despite everyone's feelings for the bumpers,,I'll take one. HRP

    [​IMG]
     
  17. jroberts
    Joined: Oct 14, 2008
    Posts: 1,658

    jroberts
    Member

  18. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,796

    Marty Strode
    Member

    This is a "Glasspar" from the early 50's I had in my shop a few years ago, I fabbed a steel firewall, floor and seats mountings. It was on a Chevy chassis, from the side view it resembled a large "Cobra".
     

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  19. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,344

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    And what of the sickly old man and his family who got scammed out of 70K for the 8hrs of "work" (to use the term loosly) the TV shitheads did on the car before it was flipped? Gary

    This site has been mentioned here before, eh?

    http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/
     
  20. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    jroberts you must have fallen in love with the headlights ha ha ha
     
  21. happyhawiian
    Joined: Oct 7, 2012
    Posts: 1

    happyhawiian
    Member
    from Bouse,az

    hello my uncle was Eric Irwin and i saw and touched the car, as i remember it was a one piece mold and they had a hard time getting the body out some one said air and it inched out out. was a ball to ride in too..
     
  22. 36C8
    Joined: Sep 8, 2006
    Posts: 326

    36C8
    Member

    <<< I like em very much
     
  23. flamingokid
    Joined: Jan 5, 2005
    Posts: 2,200

    flamingokid
    Member

    Eric Irwin started something that is still alive and well today.I've often thought of building one,or two,or....
     
  24. The Continental
    Joined: Aug 23, 2011
    Posts: 363

    The Continental
    Member
    from Texas

    Does it have doors? I like how much longer the front is compared to a Vette.
     
  25. G. Hacker
    Joined: Sep 1, 2006
    Posts: 147

    G. Hacker
    Member

  26. joeldriskill
    Joined: Jan 19, 2006
    Posts: 34

    joeldriskill
    Member
    from Richmond

    4 years late to this conversation but here is a picture of my Lancer when we picked it up. These cars were large. Over 170 inches long for a 2 seater. These were built over a male mold, so it must have been a huge pain making multiples of them. Super thick glass, probably a result of it being built over a male mold, so that they could get it smooth without grinding through it. Mine has no doors. It has nerf bars from from bumper uprights. There is evidence that it had a 1940 ford bumper on it at one point. If you read the articles that Geoff wrote about these you will read there was a reason for that. Mine has a hopped up 59a flathead, Columbia 2 speed and Lincoln brakes.

    I personally love the shape of these, some don't like the slab sided thing but I think that kinda defines the early period of these cars and makes them cool. I also like that it has no doors, cleaner lines and it seems that not many cut the doors into them.
    Anyway thought I'd share.

    ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1459380321.830060.jpg
     

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