LeMans Coupe Team #1
Marvin Horton and Ed Monegan, both electronic experts in the aerospace industry collaborated with Alton Johnson who had design and fiberglass experience and worked for Victress Manufacturing – a fiberglass company that specialized in sports car bodies and cars. Both Alton Johnson and Ed Monegan were Art Center students at the prestigious design school located in Los Angeles, California. All three individuals are shown in the photos below.
Marvin Horton (L) and Ed Monegan (R) shown in 1959 with the start of the “buck” for the LeMans Coupe along with a scale model of the car
Alton Johnson shown in his finished LeMans Coupe circa 1960
You can read more about this team in detail in the story about Alton Johnson’s LeMans Coupe which appeared in the August, 1960 issue of Road & Track.
Click Here To View More Information About Team 1
Click Here To View Photos of Building the Plug and Buck For LeMans Coupe
Bodies Built By Team 1
In reviewing literature from the time period, no ads have been found that offer the LeMans Coupe bodies for sale. However, in the rarified arena of small sports car bodies and cars from the 50s, this isn’t surprising. In our research, we have consistently found that the articles themselves were used as the sales tool, and contact information such as city and state were often the only information needed to get a letter to someone or contact someone via the phone.
Through contact with the families involved, their associates and friends and others related to this project, at least six bodies were built from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. The first body was used by Alton Johnson to build his car, and at least two if not three bodies were kept and partially built by Marvin Horton. In my discussions with Ed Monegan, he shared that he never built a LeMans Coupe. Another body was used to complete a car built by Carl Schoonhoven, and another body was used to build a drag race car called “Witchcraft.”
Only one car completed in period remains today and that’s the one built by Carl Schoonhoven. The remaining three bodies/cars were never completed in period, but all three are currently in restoration. Each of these cars are discussed below.
LeMans Coupes Finished in Period
Alton Johnson’s LeMans Coupe
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Carl Schoonhoven’s LeMans Coupe
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Walter Jackson’s “Witchcraft” – A LeMans Coupe Drag Race Car
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Unfinished LeMans Coupe Sports Cars
Three cars were known to have been started but remain unfinished through 2020 – more than 60 years after the bodies were built. Since this time, each of these cars is now on track for being completed and will debut across the country starting in 2023. Click on the links below to learn more about each of these cars.
LeMans Coupe Build / Restoration 1
Owner: Dennis Kazmerowski
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LeMans Coupe Build / Restoration 2
Owner: Geoffrey Hacker
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LeMans Coupe Build / Restoration 3
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