1948 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet

109 The Plastic Kurtis The Third Time ’ s The Charm It ’ s interesting to review the history of fiberglass and its relationship to Kurtis Sport Cars. To do this most effectively, we must look “ backward ” in time. We know that by the mid ’50 s, the “ Paul Omohundro Company ” was one of the largest industrial plastics firms in Southern California—so the expertise and interest in fiberglass and plastic must have been there from the start for Omohundro in the immediate postwar era. According to Trend Book 101 on Custom Cars (1951), the first Comet was planned with fiberglass panels. The magazine stated that this did not come to fruition due to material shortages at the time—prevalent in the postwar era. Instead, the Comet sports car was coachbuilt from aluminum. Had the Comet been made of fiberglass, this would have made it one of the first—if not the first—fiberglass bodied sports car in postwar America. The second attempt at producing a body from fiberglass is shown in the letter on the adjacent page from Kurtis - Kraft dated August 3, 1949. Here it was noted that “ the body has been changed from plastic to steel as the cost of the plastic was prohibitive. ” So the second attempt at a fiberglass bodied sports car involving Frank Kurtis and most likely— Paul Omohundro—was scrapped. But as they say ” where there ’ s a will, there ’ s always a way. ” When production of the Kurtis Sport Car began in late 1949, several Kurtis - Kraft sport cars were produced over the next year with fiberglass panels (front and rear fenders, hood, trunk lid), and promoted as such in literature and magazines. Fiberglass was the new “ wonder ” material and both Kurtis and Omohundro, no doubt, wanted to be at the forefront of their industry. The car industry took notice and in October, 1950, Motor Trend ran a four - page article titled: “ Fiberglass—A Threat To Steel. ” In this article, the methods, production, and cost were discussed on how fiberglass panels were built by “ Paul Omohundro in Paramount, California. ” So the third time was the charm for Omohundro and Kurtis. Through collaboration they successfully built the first production car in the world using fiberglass body panels—the Kurtis Sport Car. Paul Omohundro would continue working in this medium and grow his firm to great success with the “ Paul Omohundro Company. ” However, his dedication to coachbuilding sports cars and race car bodies out of aluminum and/or fiberglass ceased with the final collaboration with Frank Kurtis on the Kurtis Sport Car in 1949 - 1950. Frank Kurtis would ultimately produce a fiberglass bodied sports car that debuted in 1954 on a Kurtis 500 KK chassis—the Kurtis 500 M Roadster. This was one of the earliest fiberglass bodied sports cars built in America, and was used for race and sport.