Hi Gang…

What an interesting week this has been around a car called the Hirsch Sports car.  Up until earlier this week, the “Hirsch” was a “Mysterion” extraordinaire.  Click here to review our earlier story about the Hirsch sports car.

My how time can change what we know.  The “Hirsch” is no longer a Mysterion.  Its history has been found and this happened when Jeff Hirsch of Hirsch Design contacted me yesterday with the good news.  Here’s what I received via e-mail from Jeff:

Dear Geoff,

Let me know what you want to know about the 1965 HIRSCH Roadster (It was called the “Windsor” in an earlier iteration.)  I designed and built the roadster between 1993-2003. There was no team of men – just me and an understanding wife.

Thank You,

Jeff Hirsch
HIRSCH DESIGN

You can imagine how excited I was to hear from the man who designed the car.  We’ll be featuring “the rest of this story” soon here at Forgotten Fiberglass, so be on the lookout.

Keith Kaucher:  A New Design Concept

Back in January 2011, I introduced you to Keith Kaucher – an inspired designer and great friend of fiberglass.   I had first learned about Keith in a July 2000 Kit Car Magazine article where he took a Victress C3 Coupe and updated the design and brought it 50 years forward in style and power.  His updated Victress C3 was a sight to behold.  Click here to review Keith’s take on a modern version of the Victress C3.

From that point forward, Keith and I have been talking about modernizing and changing other classic fiberglass sportscar designs, and I received the first update yesterday – the same day I heard from Jeff Hirsch.  And Keith’s new design was based on the Hirsch Sports Car.  What a coincidence indeed!

Let’s take a look at Keith’s new design – one he calls the “Kaucher Verona GT.”

Kaucher Verona GT

The Verona GT is based off  a Hirsch Sportscar Special roadster (shown at the top of the photo above).  I have always favored fastbacks over open top cars as a car designer,  so the first thing I did was lay a roofline over the car that flowed with the rest of the design.  The rear quarter windows mimic the shape of the tail of the rear quarter panels.

The design inspiration is clear,  I’ve always been a fan of the mid year Corvette Stingray (‘63-‘67), and the ’54 Fiat 8V designed by Ghia.  Both cars are shown in the photo gallery below.  The design of the Verona is a marriage of the hard edges of the Corvette with the soft curves of the Fiat.

I wanted the lines of this car to suggest a “what if” scenario.  That is, “what if” a 289 Cobra was restyled by one of the Italian styling studios in the early Sixties.  This in my mind being an Italian Cobra – it of course is going to have a Ford small block backed by a manual trans from 4 to 6 speeds for it’s power train choice.

So if you happen to have a cracked up Hirsch or any fiberglass car with similar lines that you want to do something different with – here’s a concept.  And of course I’m always open for hire to help you take an existing car to the next level or start a concept from scratch.

This concept is a creation using Photoshop.  I also do full hand or computer renderings of car designs as well.  To see more of my design work  please visit:  www.kaucherkustoms.com

Summary:

Thanks very much to Keith Kaucher for taking the time to share his ideas with us.   And what a beautiful design this is.  Talent knows no boundaries…

Hope you enjoyed the story, and until next time…

Glass on gang…

Geoff
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