Over the years, it’s easy to become accustomed to the usual roundup of kit cars, ranging from the Bradley to the Kelmark to the knock-off James Dean Spyders (oh, and most of the “real” Cobras for sale on eBay). But then something completely different comes along and rattles the axis of my kit car knowledge. This 1967 Glassic here on eBay is a kit car interpretation of a classic Ford Model A Phaeton with more modern running gear and obviously some custom touches. For a time, some of them were even sold in Abercrombie & Fitch clothing stores. This one has a Buy-It-Now of $14K OBO.
Right off the bat, you can tell this example has done away with the replica wire wheels and uses some period dog-dish hubcabs on whitewall tires, a look that actually works pretty well. It takes the staid Model A appearance up a notch, giving it sort of a mild T-Bucket look. The Glassics were designed to give owners the experience of owning a Model A but with some modern comfort and convenience built in, including powerplants that ranged from AMC-derived 4-cylinders and Ford 302 V8s. This example makes do with the former and rides on a chassis supplied by International Harvester.
Although the drivetrain may have been modern, the seats look to be just barely more comfortable than what would have come in the original Model A. No headrests, no bolsters, but likely just fine for bouncing down the road in a straight line. Interestingly, the original founders of Glassic (Jack and Joel Faircloth of Florida) originally wanted to create a painstakingly accurate replica of the Model A, but given the size of the average American driver had ballooned since the first incarnation, the doors and interior dimensions had to be re-worked for the added girth of potential occupants.
Today, the Glassic is an unusual site on American roads, given the typically low annual production numbers. The company would eventually sell the cars from showrooms in Beverly Hills and New York, but only after an acquisition that would eventually seal its fate. After the original founders sold off their interests, the new owners ramped up production rapidly and some marque experts feel quality suffered as a result. Although the company lived on under the name “Replicars,” Glassic is still the dominant reference point for these Model A oddities. Have you ever seen one?
$14,000?
I don’t think so.
So anyone bidding needs to make a call to find any information on this car? Good luck selling it for 14k. Sheesh.
The Glassic used the IHC four cylinder, not an AMC derived one. The chassis and running gear were from a 2WD Scout.They later went to a 302 Ford.
Correct-A-Mundo! AMC never built a 4-cylinder; when they needed one (for the Gremlin, at the end of the model run. . .) they sourced one from Audi, of all places.
Inline sixes and V-8’s were their breed, with a singular V-6 bought from GM (and eventually sold back to them – an automotive industry first!).
In addition to the Audi/VW engine, they used the Pontiac “Iron Duke” four cylinder, AMC did finally produce their own four cylinder in 1984, made from a cut down AMC six.
If you count diesels, they also used a Renault four cylinder diesel, but they are uncommon.
No information, no detailed pictures, nothing. Doesn’t sound like the advertiser is too interested in selling it.
An important bit of historical trivia:
At the time of this car’s construction, it might have been sold at Abercrombie and Fitch, but it was a very very different store then
The old A & F sold provisions for your Safari, Arctic expedition, or champagne brunch on the Riviera.
The fine, old company went into bankruptcy and was sold to the Neo pornography clothing company just for the cachet the name
They also had the Fitch Phoenix in their catalog, although it never went into production
My mother worked as a secretary/bookkeeper for a most interesting (and downright dapper, some might say) fellow named Dick Bradley, who owned a company named Plastics Engineering Corp (maybe Company?), based in Fort Lauderdale. Dick was an entrepreneur and talented inventor, who came up with a (patented) method of spraying fiberglass into a mould with a special gun that combined the resin and the fiberglass in mid-air just before hitting the mould. This was the process used to build up the Glassic body at their West Palm Beach “factory.” Hey, if Briggs Cunningham could manufacture cars in West Palm Beach, why not the Faircloths!
Sadly for Dick, the business failed just in time for him to be diagnosed with lung cancer, and he died virtually penniless, though the Glassic company soldiered on for a few more years.
The building that housed Plastics Engineering on NW 9th Avenue (Powerline Road) near Oakland Park Boulevard was only recently razed (early 2016). It, too, was an interesting structure–a relatively conventional house constructed on the Plastics Engineering Co’s roof. Dick and his family lived there. I used to babysit Dick’s daughter in that house in the mid-1960s. After Dick’s passing, the property was liquidated. The building served for the next 30-40 years as an air conditioning and mechanic’s trade school. The house on top of the building was used as an office and student break room.
To be more specific, the IHC engine was a Slant 4 Continental, exactly half a V8, which gave the Glassic I owned in 1967 some zip & pep. New Year’s Eve with a horny girlfriend in tow, I accidentally ran into a cement pillar in her underground parking garage, and we drove the busted radiator vehicle a mile to International garage, drank some booze, kissed my gal & the car goodnight, went home drunk & disgusted. Will NEVER forget that night!!