1954 American fibreglass cars.

**insanityvans** · 07-02-2012 13:21

Interesting clip from a 1954 film, Johnny Dark with Tony Curtis in it. After the 2nd WW american soldiers going home wanted sports cars like they'd seen in europe so enterprising Californians made some!! These pre-date the fibreglass Corvette and genuine glass manufactured cars are used.

Forgotten Fiberglass – Vintage ‘glass and the big screen: Johnny Dark, 1954 | Hemmings Blog: Classic and collectible cars and parts

QUOTE;-

"

We all celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the designers, builders and drivers of the cars we enjoy, and it is no different for those of us who have come to appreciate the vintage fiberglass cars of the 1950s. But America is not just car-crazy – we also look toward the feature films of Hollywood for our recreation and entertainment. And when Hollywood turns its gaze upon cars, well, it doesn’t get much better than that.

That’s exactly what happened in the early to mid-1950s, when Universal International Pictures cast Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, Don Taylor, and several early fiberglass cars in its 1954 film Johnny Dark. The movie was filmed in 1953; and while GIs had popularized European sports cars among American drivers in the years since World War II, the drum beating across the land for an American sports car was at its height. What new sports cars would emerge? Which company would be first? Which would be the best performer?

All of these themes were interwoven into the movie, and the directors wanted to keep the American public hungering for more. So they “cast” eight cars that were virtually unknown in the starring roles of the second race in the film. Five of these cars were brand-spanking-new fiberglass specials. They were:

* The Woodill Wildfire, a fiberglass special. This was a new body style that had debuted in the summer of 1953. It was brand new when it was being filmed in race scenes near Reno, Nevada.
* The Victress S1 Roadster, a fiberglass special. The Victress had debuted in late 1952, and the Guy Mabee Special using a Victress body had just become the world’s fastest sports car at Bonneville in 1953, with a record speed of more than 203 MPH.
* The Glasspar G2 Roadster, a fiberglass special.
* The Grantham Stardust, a fiberglass special.
* The Irwin Lancer, a fiberglass special.
* The Bohman Special, a handcrafted sports car by Chris Bohman. Chris was the son of Maurice Bohman of the Pasadena Coachbuilding firm Bohman and Schwartz.
* The Chuck Tatum Special, a handcrafted sports car built by Chuck Tatum with a body designed and built by Jack Hagemann.
* The Kurtis Kraft Sports Car, built by Frank Kurtis of Glendale, California."