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It’s been a little while since we had a good mystery to uncover. Get out your detective kits and your thinking caps, because reader Michael F came across this intriguing fiberglass body here on Kijiji and it needs identifying. The seller is asking $5k, but doesn’t even know what it is. Given that we haven’t ever seen another, we are going to assume it is exceptionally rare. Special thanks to Michael for this tip! Leave your guesses in the comment section and if you have sources, please feel free to include them so we can all take a closer look. Good luck!
i think this is a job for Forgotten Fiberglass.
It has the proportions of a late 1950s Berkeley body – it could be a custom replacement kit. Here is a somewhat similar (but different) Berkeley: http://realitypod.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Berkeley-Sports-1958.jpg
Looks like a Lotus 7 hood with fenders and Corvair headlights stuffed in.
Love that face. No idea, but.
Don’t know why my comment has not shown up, so I will try again – it looks like a custom body for a late 1950’s Berkeley. They used to advertise them in the back of Road & Track.
Well, I guess it’s not any older than 1957 when quad headlights first appeared. The grille resembles a Facel Vega and the rear wheel arches look like a big Healey. That’s about all I have to contribute but it’s a starting point.
Come ON, that is NOT a Berkeley! Way too big! I’ve seen something like this with dual headlights & the grille…maybe a dual ghia? Though a ghia would be way too upperclass to have a step in the side. Argh, I know this car!! It’s just too late. Maybe in the morning after a pot of coffee??
What is found on Fiji needs to stay on Fiji LOL! Looks like a rebody kit for an MGA…jus sayin..
Funny line in the description:
“Any questions , call….”
How about: What the heck is it ?, and what do YOU know about ? ….for $5k ?
I just emailed Geoffrey Hacker. If anybody knows what this is, he should!
Hi Gang…and Mark E….thanks for the kind words.
I just posted a story with a bit more info on this car. Here’s the link:
http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/mysterions/mystery-fiberglass-car-surfaces-canada-winter-thawing/
Hope this helps and thanks for the heads-up Mark E…
Geoff Hacker
Forgotten Fiberglass
This is one of those times when a seller is just throwing up a crazy number to see what sticks. I bet if you wait a few weeks and go there with $1,500 in hand you can buy it. After all, the owner doesn’t have a clue what he has (and neither do I), so he (or she) has no idea how to price it. It’s always easier to start high and go down than to start low and go high.
See, what did I tell you? Anyone who knows cars should realize that’s what’s left of an alien UFO that crashed in the woods of Manitoba! ^_^
Okay, seriously if Geoffrey and his resources does not know what this is, I hope whoever buys it takes the time to find out the history of it and WORKS (for it is indeed work) to contact people back through the ownership history. I’m thinking that would be the only way you could truly find out what it is for certain…
Whatever it is, that front set of cavities and contours is a remarkable job.
I’d say its late 50’s, as the quad headlights weren’t a thing until about 57. the front end is a nod to Facel Vega and profile is very jaguaresque. It’s also in Quebec Canada and could very well have originated here in Canada.
Tabernac, I said Quebec, it’s in Manitoba. My bad
The side profile is similar to the Jaguar 120/140, so I suggest that this is a custom body for a Jag chassis.
Still looking, but the hoods style lines comes close to this 54 Victress as can be seen at this site. http://bringatrailer.com/2008/08/25/sitting-since-the-70s-1954-victress-special/
The square pegs to the left and right of the front wind scoop are for single pole bumper or push guards. Here is looks like they were being covered up ((?)) it looks stock to me. At first I thought it was being modified, but now I think it is pretty much a raw original.
Other close possibilities
From Austin-Haley to Victress. From Ford to Ferrari; from Buick to Berkeley to Bugatti. From Cobra to Triumph, these all have similar (in-like) period designs of the car type. This body could have been a kit or a one-of. Still looking
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C226704#
http://gophoto.us/key/1950s%20sports%20cars
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rare+fiberglass+cars&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=44A1C1182353B8E1C5A802C39F48D8ADA77C278C&selectedIndex=159
then go here for more information of the fiberglass body seen just above:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/variants/vt106f.htm
I believe this is a Maverick body. I have seen one on a early 50s Cadillac chassis. There were very few produced as complete cars but some were sold as kits from Southern California in the late 40s or early 50s. Look on google
An interesting look, with an uncommon feature or two….
For sure LHD, since the left cowl arch is a little higher. Passengers don’t need as much protection, lol!
The pocket built into the sides are toe-holds to improve ingress? Pointing the left foot into that, holding onto the steering wheel, and swinging the right foot all the way to the floor board is better than stepping over the side with a foot onto the seat! There must have been a provision for the passenger, such as a grab-bar to hold while swinging into the car.
The rear bumper could have been “nerf bars”, judging by the slots in the body. Of course, a full length bumber could also have been installed, but I vote for the nerfs.
The front bumber would have been more substantial, a guess based on the larger square frame-end mount holes. I too woule wonder what the wheelbase is. That could give an indication whether the body was intended to be dropped onto an existing chassis, or whether it was made with a custom or modified frame in mind.
Typos abound! “bumber” ??? “woule” ???
I do miss the old 5-minute edit capability. Of course, I should proof-read prior to hitting the post button, but I get in a rush, and……
Anyway, it would be really cool to see this shell brought to life with a Healy 6 or a DOHC Jaguar engine. A modern drive-train would make for a more reliable driver, but so much fun could be had by re-creating a period piece.
Those (modified) lines, but especially the proportions look very, very similar to my XK150, but the cockpit looks like a 120 or 140. So I’m voting a re-body for an early Jag XK frame.
….OH! and the fuel filler neck is in the right spot for an XK … at least an XK150 anyway. But given the price of an XK frame, and value of a stock restored XK, I doubt anyone would ever bring this thing back, sadly. I think its kind of cool.
Thanks for everyone’s guesses. We figured it was a one-off backyard build, but you never know. We have posted cars on here in the past that we had never seen before and our readers have been able to identify them in a matter of minutes! Thanks guys!
I’m w Mark E in that the front looks like Dual Ghia, the rest of it, ???
keep me in this conversation…tick
love fibreglass designs and like many [comparring here to our aussie glass designs] has the frontend on this one been changed post manufacture..so easy to see by a glimpse behind the shell [ i have found many of my cars that looked untouched from the front showed a city of fibreglass strands and rough patches that were by now only holding on due to the fibreglass strands holding hands] that proved it had been repaired or modified.
If you ask seller how many patches behind the body it will determine easily if the body has been altered from another or at least had large repairs. Better still some photos of the insides would be just as desirable as the externals .
if you have never owned fibreglass cars then make sure you check the back of any body before commiting $ to it.
I must say i love the front end on it.. very distinctive…I note that the grille apperture is slightly skewif…although not necessarily a mark of post changes as many fibreglass cars are not inline or even in symmetry…many designed with an eye for it…too bad if the designer of any of these cars had what you yanks i believe call “pink eye” on the day of shaping..hee hee. some just could never get the symmetry or if not that, many are just wavy bodies.,but that is another thing that draws me to my fibreglass cars..organic designs done by people with a dream but always on a budget..I love the wavers, the odd symmetry..and I dont really understand the concourse thing..these were cars of/for the boys…cheap nasty and lovable. Got a chassis.. get a body a few weekends and have fun.
damn here I go againg I was only going to keep me in this conversation
I don’t know enough about fibreglass but I was wondering the the same thing about a grafted front end. It seems so much more sophisticated than the rest of the body.
And look at the rear shot..
Isnt that rear end so out ouf wack/symmetry or is it a dodgy camera angle…I am afraid to me it look like the body out but I could be wrong.
The body has the razor edge treatment on top of the guards wasnt this a trend around the time of the razoredge Triumphs…Mayflower and Renown…ie mid 50’s saw the cars appeared 49 to 53..Does that offer any help in age….well at least of one styling aspect.
Although to me though my feelings the car was built later 50s ie: 57 to 60 period
man that rear shot looks wonky. Hope its the camera angle as its certainly going to annoy the new rebuilder..doesnt look the camera angle to me…ah certainly gives it individuality that only fibreglass bodies can…love it.
ok looking at the side shot it can be seen that the wheel arch is cracked and the left rear guard is hanging down
therefore my thoughts the rearend is wonky may be incorrect if the left guard is hanging down…
if so hopefully the rear shot is deceptive because of the twist in the body caused the odd rear shot because of the hanging left guard thus making the angle strange.
that is great…means the rear wonkyness was a trick of the twist and the camera…excellent it should be ok.
though I kind of like a little wonkyness in moulded bodies [not as much as it seemed] its shows its made by real humans…its like listening to a band live..you wince when you hear an errant note/chord but love the fact this is live and you should expect something human to show. .
If I had my druthers on this, I’d rework the rear of this to have more of a tucked in barchetta type look. Still can’t get over how well done that face is.
Those headlights look an awful lot like a Chrysler 300. LOL
a modified Woodhill maybe?
I’m guessing somebody’s take on an XK Jag
The front of the body is identical to a Serra (Spain) bodied 1934/54 Lancia Augusta.
Very similar, but I wouldn’t say identical. Good eye though, the similarities are striking: http://www.prewarcar.com/postwarclassic/magazine/previous-features/lancia-augusta-custom-by-serra-023186.html