Hi Gang…

What’s that?

Faster than any car with a steel body!   More flexible and repairable than any automotive material made today!  Able to leap…..  Ok….You get the picture.

Back in 1952 fiberglass was the “Wonder” material.  Lightweight but strong.  Repairable and in most cases – resilient to normal daily bumps of driving and parking.  Fiberglass was heralded as the next material cars would be made of – for a variety of reasons.

This wasn’t the first time this happened.  Back in the 1930’s, the use of aluminum in airplanes and later cars signaled its recognition as “the new wonder material” for automobiles, and many of the 1930’s concept “teardrop” cars of the time were built using this material.

So…. it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that this same general excitement and discussion would trickle down to high schools, middle schools, and grade schools in the early 1950’s as the “miracles” of fiberglass became better known.  And indeed….. this is exactly what happened when the perennial “Weekly Reader” covered “Plastic News” and the introduction of the first fiberglass bodied sports car – the “Glasspar G2” to their 8-12 year old readership in 1952.

This is a very important demographic gang.  You’ll see why later.

Thanks to Greg and Matt Tritt For Saving a Bit of Glasspar History:

I first learned about this cover car from Greg Tritt, Bill Tritt’s son, several years ago.  Greg shared the following:

“I was as surprised to see my dad’s car in the Weekly Reader as anyone.  And on the cover too!  I was really young, but it was great fun to see it at the time, and I still have my school copy as of today”.

We have Greg and Matt Tritt to thank for saving this great piece of history for over 50 years, and now it’s shared with you today.  And…..this “Weekly Reader” has the significant honor of being the first of many Glasspar G2 “cover” shots or appearances on the cover of a magazine or newspaper.

Although there were articles published 1 or 2 months earlier, the appearance on the cover of “Weekly Reader” –  just 4 months after the Glasspar G2’s introduction at the 1951 Petersen Motorama in Los Angeles, California – gave this magazine this unique distinction.

Childhood Memories:

I recently discussed this “Weekly Reader” with Stan Crawford (click here to see the story of Stan and his Atlas Swallow coupe).  He’s convinced that he remembers reading this Weekly Reader article as a kid, and it’s subsequently the reason he enjoys glass cars as an adult – and owns his Glasspar G2 today.  That is, it helped ignite his interest in cars.  See what I mean about this demographic being important?

I wonder how many of us can remember our first experience that led to an excitement about cars?  And what a great story it would make if we could remember such a neat article so early in our lives.

Thanks to Greg  and Matt Tritt for sharing this with us today, and to Stan Crawford as well for sharing his memories.    Now…I just have to find that firetruck I liked as a kid, and my life will be complete.

*wink*

Glass on gang.

Geoff

——————————————————————–

Click on the Images Below to View Larger Pictures

——————————————————————-