THE FORGOTTEN FIBERGLASS FAMILY
— OUR CONTRIBUTORS —
“We’re Honored To Have So Many Passionate Contributors to the Cause – People We Consider to be Part of the Forgotten Fiberglass Family”
At The 2011 Milwaukee Masterpiece. From Left to Right: Steve Steers, Tom Chandler, Linda Steers, Clark Mitchell, Barbara Chandler, Jim Robinson, Lea Ann Robinson, Ann Fowler, Stan Fowler, Merrill Powell.
The Forgotten Fiberglass Family:
Forgotten Fiberglass is much larger than just two car guys. Many people have been key in providing on-going support and help with research, strategy, and historical documentation in every way.
We would like to thank all the folks who made this possible over the years in getting us to the point we are today. This is not a short list. This represents the efforts of folks going back over 30+ years or more. The names in each section of the list have been alphabetized.
Here we go..
First… The Trailer Blazers:
These are the people who helped document these cars and their history – long before others caught on and appreciated them in the way they are today.
| Mark Brinker | Author, writer, historian, car owner, and all around enthusiast |
| Frank Cornell | Woodill Wildfire historian |
| Bill Craddock | Published first attempt at Vintage Kit & Custom Club newletter in 1993 |
| Bob Curtis | Historian and enthusiast who interviewed many of the founders back in the 1980’s and 1990’s – when research was damn near impossible |
| Kit Foster | Author, historian, and enthusiast who embraced these cars long before nearly anyone else |
| Jon Greuel | LaDawri.com founder and historian |
| John Gulow | LaDawri Historian |
| Tim and Tom Hutchins | Created Sport Custom Registry published in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s |
| Pat Hoover | Son of original Glasspar builder and whose father (Bill Hoover) worked with Jean Poirer and Glasspar history |
| Raffi Minasian | Car designer, author, historian, and enthusiast who has been on the cutting edge of creating and capturing history since his entry into the hobby with a Pegaso approximately 20 years ago |
| Dave Perry | Restorer and owner of many of these fiberglass cars – runs the best damn fiberglass special garage in the country |
| Jean Poirer | Glasspar Historian |
| Harold Pace | Author extraordinaire and historian of kit cars, Porsches, and more |
| Fred Roth | The founder of interest and focus on these cars starting with his support of an article in Special Interest Autos in 1971 about Woodill Wildfire |
The Honored Enthusiasts, Owners, and Contributors:
These are the folks who are owners of these cars, may have been owners in the past, knew the company founders and/or the cars back in the day, and those who have a ferocious appetite for the history and importance of vintage fiberglass cars in every way:
| Greg and Debbie Alderdice | Woodill Wildfire owners and enthusiasts (of LaDawris too) |
| Philip Avis | Singer Historian |
| Tom Bambard | Builder, racer, and enthusiast |
| Peter Boyd | Historian and owners of many specials since the 1980’s – one of the best! |
| Wolfgang Buchta | Historian (Austria) |
| Terry Buffin | Atlas and Allied historian |
| Rick Cannon | Owner of an Allied and Cannon Engineering historian |
| Chris Cassidy | Builder and restorer of vintage fiberglass sports cars |
| George Chartier | Fisher Body Guild Historian |
| Tom Cotter | Noted author and historian |
| Steve Cowdin | Woodill, Skorpion, Grantham Stardust, and researcher / literature collector |
| Darren Crispin | Allied Swallow owner and enthusiast |
| Dudley Cunningham | Meteor and Bocar owner and enthusiast |
| Guy Dirkin | Byers and Victress owner |
| Bill Fester | Allied owner and historian |
| Mike and Dawn Fisher | Glasspar G2 and Bocar owners and enthusiasts |
| Phil Fleming | Byers and Devin owner and historian |
| Dick Foster (Michigan) | Owner and original builder of Woodill Wildfire |
| Dick Foster (California) | Original builder of Victress S1 Special |
| Stan Fowler | Builder and restorer extraordinaire – Woodill Wildfire |
| Jim Fox | Berkeley owner and fiberglass enthusiast |
| Marshall Foxworthy | Car designer, researcher, and historian – and great friend too! |
| Bob and Catherine Frumkin | Mechanix Illustrated owner and builder |
| John Furlow | Byers historian and owner |
| Jim Giles | Historian and researcher / Woodill, Glasspar, Allied, others |
| Bruce and Nancy Glascock | Previous owners of the famous Garner Special (Blowfish Special) and Grantham Stardust, and current owners of one hot fast Almquist Sabre. Super historians too. |
| Norman Gocke | Historian (Germany) |
| Mary Ellen Goddard | Costa Mesa Historical Society |
| Ted and Greg Griffin | Woodill Wildfire historians and original owner/builder (Ted) |
| Vilmar Nik Gudmunds | Designer and builder of Thor |
| Bill Hair | Historian and enthusiast |
| Jules Heumann | Builder of a Singer Special in 1955-1958 |
| Tom Householder | Fantastic researcher and sports car enthusiast |
| John Jacobus | Fisher Body Guild Historian |
| Ted Kempgens | Builder extraordinaire |
| John Knebel | Original owner and builder of Glasspar G2 |
| Jeremy Krock | Debonaire researcher, historian, and friend of Peter Egan |
| Mike and Jim Larkin | Historians and original builders of the Sorrell and other cool racecars from back in the day |
| Denny Larsen | Builder of Guy Mabee Victress Special and Sorrell Streetliner |
| Richard Lewis | Original owner and builder of an Allied Swallow |
| Arthur Maimborg | Collector, builder, and enthusiast from the 1950’s forward |
| Tim Masters | Builder, historian, and guitarist |
| Alan and Cathy Maxcy | Byers owner and historian |
| Peter McKercher | Singer Historian |
| Bert McNomee | Naugatuck Vice-President of Public Relations in 1950’s and person responsible for February 1952 Life Magazine article on Glasspar |
| Scott Miller | Historian and restorer extraordinaire in every way (thanks Scott!) |
| Tony Miller | Historian, enthusiast, and designer |
| Jack Molleur | Fiberglass enthusiast and designer/builder |
| Javier Munoz | Alken owner and historian |
| Hugh Nutting | Enthusiast, historian, Glasspar and LaDawri owner |
| Rodney and Bill Packwood | Victress C3 Builder and historians |
| Dan Palatnik | Artist and enthusiast extraordinaire |
| Bob Peterson | Kellison J2 owner, collector, restorer, artist, and author |
| Jon Phillips | Builder and hot rod enthusiast |
| Frank Powell | Brother of Bob Powell and builder of Bob Powell Victress. |
| Rory Reinbold | Owner and enthusiast of Allied / Atlas Sports Cars |
| David Rex | Glasspar G2 Comet owner and enthusiast |
| Steve Ribeau | Friend of Shorty Post family (Glasspar) and friend to Hank McCormack from McCormack, too |
| Tim Ritter | Historian and enthusiast |
| Jim and Lea Anne Robinson | Owners of the Guy Maybee Victress and historians of Victress |
| Rick Ruth | Historian for the Chicagoan Sports Car |
| Paul Sable | Owner, enthusiast, historian, and Concours judge of these cars |
| Erich Schultz | Researcher, historian, Glasspar, Victress, LaDawri, Chattanooga Boiler Tank Chassis, and other owner |
| Bill Sigworth | Chemtura / Naugatuck employee and historian |
| Jim Simpson | Designer and enthusiast who shares passion for the early era of these cars – and continues this enthusiasm with both designing and building exotic specials as of today. |
| Jimmy Smith | Artist, enthusiast, and builder (cool truck in the garage…) |
| Tony St. Clair | Researcher extraordinaire and Glasspar / LaDawri owner |
| Steve Steers | Victress owner and Glasspar enthusiast |
| Jerry Sutton | Builder of Victress C3 coupe |
| Mick Walsh | Classic and Sportscar Editor, historian (UK) |
| Bill Warner | Chairman of Amelia Island Concours d’ Elegance, and constant supporter of these unusual cars |
| Mike Wittman | Meteor owner, car build guru, and fantastic enthusiast (and great all-around guy too!) |
| Jim Valentine | Art Center Student from the 1950’s and car designer |
| Dick Van Laanan | Driver of Buchanan and Siegfried’s Singer Special |
| Myron Vernis | Enthusiast, Glasspar Ascot owner, and fantastic researcher and historian |
| Doug Ward | Friend and co-builder of Alton Johnson’s LeMans Coupe |
Historians and Noted Authors:
We’ve been fortunate here at Forgotten Fiberglass to have significant contributors, authors, writers, and lecturers who have made their mark – and continue to have an impact – in the automotive industry and its history.
| Terry Boyce | Historian, author, and enthusiast |
| Tom Brierly | Historian and magazine / literature collector |
| Glenn Brummer | Historian extraordinaire |
| Robert Cumberford | Author, writer, lecturer |
| Ron Cummings | Historian and enthusiast |
| Bob Cunningham | Historian and author |
| Bob D’Olivio | Photographer and historian from the 1950’s forward |
| Bob Falcon | Historian |
| Allan Girdler | Historian, Road & Track Editor, author |
| Ken Gross | Historian, author, writer, lecturer, and former curator of Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California |
| John Gunnell | Historian and author of my favorite book “Weird Cars”on these cars back in the 1970’s with his publication Special Interest Autos |
| Alden Jewel | Historian |
| Rik Hoving | Artist, historian, and enthusiast |
| Ron Kellogg | Historian and enthusiast |
| Leslie Kendall | Historian, author, and curator of Petersen Automotive Museum |
| Allen Kuhn | Historian, photographer, and enthusiast |
| Michael Lamm | Historian and writer |
| Leslie Long | Historian |
| Karl Ludvigdsen | Historian and author |
| Sharon and Rob McClellan | Historians and literature enthusiasts |
| Jim Miller | Chairman of the American Hot Rod Foundation and historian |
| Walter Miller | Historian and literature enthusiast |
| Stan Mott | Writer and creative artist |
| Jim North | Son of Jim Potter author from the 1950’s |
| Bill Pollack | Historian and race car driver |
| Jim Sitz | Historian |
| Jonathan Stein | Historian and enthusiast |
| Angelo Van Bogart | Editor Old Cars Weekly, and enthusiast |
| Nick Whitlow | CRV / Piranha / Gene Winfield Historian |
| Walt Woron | First editor of Motor Trend from volume 1, number 1 |
Company Founders, Employees, and Families:
In addition, many founders, their families, associates, employees, and friends of the fiberglass companies from the 1950’s have been supportive and have inspired us to continue forward in our project with full steam. These include, but are not limited the list below.
| Ed Almquist | Almquist – founder |
| Pat Amendolia | Rockefeller, US Mark II – best friend of founder (Rockefeller) and bought out US Mark II |
| Noel Bangert Marshall | Bangert – founder |
| Richard Bosley | Bosley – founder |
| Pat Boyce Smith | Victress – wife of founder Doc Boyce-Smith |
| Bill Burke | Allied / Atlas – founder |
| John Buzby | Gazelle and Navajo – employee and builder / vice-president |
| Jeri Clark | Grantham Stardust / Gene Schneider Plastics – employee |
| John and Olga Covington | Covington Tiburon – founding family. Henry Covington was husband to Olga and father to John and Henry designed and built the Covington Tiburons. |
| Joan, Patrick, and Michael Dawes | LaDawri – founding family. Leslie (Les) Dawes, husband to Joan and father to Patrick and Michael designed and built the LaDawri Conquest and other LaDawri models. |
| Don Edmunds | Wasp / Skorpion / Viking Craft employee (and the Cheetah too…) |
| Dean Frazen | Lewis Frazen was designer and builder of Frazen (Gopher) sports cars. Dean is his son. |
| Dennis Gerdes | Glasspar (father was Warren Gerdes, Glasspar G2 Foreman) |
| Bruce Gladwin | Son of Stirling Gladwin who produced the Maverick and helped build cars |
| Fred and Hirome Grantham | Son of Bill Grantham of Grantham Stardust |
| Ray Green | Ray’s father – Ray Green Sr – was builder of Frazen (Gopher) sports cars |
| Monroe Gretsky | Founder of Vaughan-Singer Motors in Los Angeles, California in 1950 |
| Frank Hecox | Glasspar G2 employee |
| Steve and Sharon Hinger | Steve is son of Chicagoan/Triplex/Lightning founder |
| Brian Jennings | Eric Irwin’s (Lancer) nephew |
| Alton Johnson Jr | Son of Alton Johnson builder of the LeMans Coupe |
| Dick Jones | Meteor founder |
| Mel Keys | Victress employee and friend |
| Ed Martindale and his son Marty | Ed was Mameco co-founder with Ted Mangels. Marty is Ed’s son. Ed Martindale and Ted Mangels built and campaigned the Glasspar G2 Mameco Ardun Racecar owned by Bill Tritt |
| Rich McCormack | McCormack |
| Patrick McLoad | Son of Venus founder |
| Bruce Meyers | Manx |
| Howard Miller | Woodill Wildfire Production Manager – thru interviews conducted in the 1990’s by Frank Cornell |
| Clark Mitchell | Friend of Harry Heim who designed body for Clearfield Plastics. Clark and Harry co-designed and built original body which became first body offered by Clearfield Plastics and later Almquist. |
| Ed Monegan | LeMans Coupe |
| Merrill Powell | Victress |
| Bill Quirk | Victress |
| Fred Ricketts | Vanguard Warrior I |
| Jim Rockefeller | Rockefeller |
| Richard Russell | Victress |
| Elaine Shiber | Rockefeller |
| Maria Testaguzza | LaSaetta |
| Frank Tift | Byers |
| Bill Tritt and sons Matt and Greg | Glasspar |
| Phil Turgasen | Shorty Post employee |
| John Wills Jr | Wasp / Skorpion |
| Michael Woodill | Woodill Wildfire |
We Would Also Like To Thank:
Ryan Cochran of the Jalopy Journal for his help, support, and encouragement on making this site happen. Ryan blazed the trail with a format for his Jalopy Journal website that allowed both publication of stories and participation via a comprehensive discussion board too. Outstanding for all his enthusiasts alike…
Daniel Strohl of Hemmings who loves the same oddball and fiberglass cars that most of us do as well. His interest and support of these cars shows in the Hemmings Blog he maintains and the Hemmings Publications he writes for each month.
Last And Not Least: The Fiberglass Brain Trust
But…not last or least…my thanks to my good friends who without their constant support, advice, thoughts, challenges, inquiries, patience with me, and outright enthusiasm – this would not be possible:
| Rick D’Louhy | My best bud with research and conversation concerning each of these cars, and the publication of our upcoming book. |
| Guy Dirkin | Strategist, researcher, and historian whose constant challenges focus our research and make what we do better each day |
| Phil Fleming | Phil’s marketing savvy and knowledge of strategy in terms of research and writing is bar none. Phil continues to guide us along the way in terms of what’s important during the founding years of the 1950’s and why it’s important to car enthusiasts today. He may have found one or two Kurtis Omohundro Comets for me too…*wink* |
| Geoff Hacker | Me |
| Rollie Langston | Rollie built his own Byers SR100 in the late 1950’s – and we just found it. His understanding of the era and its place in history – both then and now – helps guide us on understanding the importance and excitement of the era of building your own sports car |
| Raffi Minasian | Noted author, researcher, historian, and restorer |
| Harold Pace | Noted author, researcher, historian, and restorer |
| Rodney Packwood | Rodney and his brother Bill Packwood built one of the greatest specials in the early 1960’s and have shared their memories in every way (we’ve even found the car!). Rodney has become a great friend and strategist with us particularly around the Glasspar, Woodill Wildfire, and Victress marques. |
| Dave Perry | Historian, author, restorer, advisor, and friend. |
| Merrill Powell “Honorary Chairman” |
Victress Co-Owner 1953-1961 |
| Erich Schultz | Great friend and consummate car guy whose knowledge and memory of sports cars, classics, and specials from the 1950’s and 1960’s makes what we do the best it can be. |
| Mike Wittman | I call Mike the “Guru of Glass” – because he’s an expert on how the ‘glass specials of the 1950’s were built in every way. Hot rods, classic cars, exotics…..Mike has been our “go to” guy for build and run questions in every way. |
Summary:
As best we’ve tried, we’re sure we left some people out and our apologizes for doing so – know that we appreciate the support and enthusiasm of each of the friends we’ve made over the past few years and look forward to your participation and enjoyment of our site as well.
Glass on gang!
 Geoff Hacker: Forgotten Fiberglass |
 Rick D’Louhy: Forgotten Fiberglass |