1 Overview 1958 LeMans Coupe by Strother MacMinn — The Most Exciting Sports Car Design Constructed In The USA In Years — Robert Cumberford: SCG Magazine, March 1960 No other “Special” of the 1950s captured the imagination of the public as the design, build and debut of Strother MacMinn and John Bond’s LeMans Coupe. Bond created the “challenge” and designed the chassis; MacMinn conceived the body. Considering the concept was penned and published in 1958, the styling was futuristic, the goal was lofty and the challenge was inspirational. The design originated in a series of articles which were focused on creating a race car that could win the LeMans race in Europe. The challenge in the articles was to “America.” They encouraged individuals and teams to embrace their project and build a car. One team created designs for the chassis while the legendary stylist and Art Center instructor, Strother MacMinn, designed the body. MacMinn later extended the designs in his 1959 book “Sports Cars of the Future” to include several versions of the LeMans Coupe that encompassed race and sports cars. Although no versions of the race car were ultimately built, several versions of the sports car using MacMinn’s design were finished. And as Robert Cumberford, designer, stylist and author put it in his 1960 article for Sports Car Guide (SCG) magazine, the finished sports car was “The most exciting sports car design constructed in the USA in years.” Only seven known bodies were built and four versions of the car were finished - just one of these four finished cars is known to exist today. Dennis Kazmerowski is the first person in over sixty years to take on the task of completing a MacMinn LeMans Coupe, and is doing this with one of the three unfinished cars. His LeMans Coupe made its mid-restoration debut in the General Motors Design Dome at the 2022 “Eyes on Design” celebration in Detroit, Michigan. The finished car debuts at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August, 2023.
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