Showcase
1953 Maverick Sportster – (to be completed)
Owners: Tom Chandler and Undiscovered Classics
(insert slide deck here)
History of This Car
“The Maverick Sportster is a Land-Bound Pegasus with airborne power and cloud-like riding quality”
(Maverick Sportster brochure, 1953)
The Maverick Sportster was designed by Sterling “Smoke” Gladwin Jr., of Mountain View, California who was a retired aeronautical engineer having worked for Boeing and Lockheed during and after World War II.
Fascinated with the elegance of pre-war automobile design, Gladwin built a postwar boulevard sports car with modern power and classic lines – the result was the Maverick Sportster. He built the first Maverick for himself using a 1940 LaSalle chassis and a flathead Cadillac V8 motor. His company, Maverick Motors, then built the remaining 6 cars for customers using postwar Cadillac chassis’ with 331 cubic inch OHV Cadillac motors. This Maverick was originally owned by Smoke and Myrtle Gladwin. He retained this and another Maverick his entire life.
The Maverick is known as America’s last boattail speedster and is often regarded as America’s Postwar Duesenberg.
Technical Specifications
- Body Design:
- Built By:
- Completed: 1952
- Engine:
- Transmission:
- Brakes:
- Wheels:
- Wheelbase:
“Build” Poster / Brochure
Background Reading
Explore The Links Below
The Remarkable 1956 Manta Ray By Noel Bangert
Silodrome: May 1st, 2020
Articles on Bangert Sports Cars
Undiscovered Classics: Various
Concours d’Elegance Appearances
This Manta Ray debuted at the 2017 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance with Ray Evernham on-hand to celebrate its return for public display. Since then, it has also been on special display at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum in Sarasota, Florida, a special exhibition at an event in Norwalk, Connecticut and a display at the corporate office of DuPont Registry in Clearwater, Florida.