Class with Glass

A complaint sometimes voiced by owners of even the highest-priced Detroit hardware is that they can barely leave their driveways before running across virtual duplicates of the machines they're piloting. Sensing the need for something to set one apart from the rest of the traffic without going overboard financially, several small but enterprising California car builders not too long ago came up with what they felt was a wise solution to a problem that involved both aesthetics and status. They evolved fiberglass auto bodies--turned out at a relatively modest unit cost, despite a limited "production--that could be purchased in kit form, assembled by the do-it-yourselfer and bolted to an already existing frame in fairly short order. The result of this skin graft, at first applied only on Volkswagen and Corvair chassis, was to turn tortoises into tigers--visually, at least. A few constructors then took the next logical step (what with the American predilection for performance) and designed chassis and installed power plants that came close to matching the svelte, swift look of the bodies covering them. Interiors were made sports-car functional, with no-nonsense instrumentation and (text concluded on page 236)Class with Glass (continued from page 156) low-slung bucket seats. In most cases, current machines can be purchased in three stages of completion: in the economical assemble-it-yourself kit; with the body completely assembled and ready to bolt onto a chassis; or in the ready-to-roll condition of the quartet of vehicles Playboy has pictured.

Creative Engineering's Amante GT makes available the greatest number of interior styling modifications of the four cars shown. Front, rear and side body details can be altered upon order as well. A wide range of engine and chassis options in the ready-to-drive state is also available. The top of the line, priced at $8995, is powered by a small block V8 mounted amidships on a special tube frame. The do-it-yourself kit, minus chassis, is available at $1495; and a completely assembled body--ready to bolt to an existing chassis--costs $2895.

Both the Avenger GT-12 and the Jamaican V8 are made by FiberFab. The sleek Avenger is based on a Volkswagen chassis that houses rear-engined running gear, naturally--up to and including hot Corvair and Porsche motors, if the buyer decides to install such power plants on his own. In kit form, without chassis, the Avenger is $1695. Assembled and ready to drive, powered by the new VW floor-pan engine, it costs $3995.

The Jamaican's engine is front mounted on a custom-built steel chassis with all independent suspension. Because of the frame construction, this is the only one of the quartet not available in bolt-on form. The most potent engine options are Chevy's Z-28 and L-79 units. The power-to-weight ratio with this running gear should give the Jamaican a top end slightly above 150 miles per hour. As a kit, priced at $2608, the car does not include steering and suspension components, drive train nor chassis. A limited number of completely assembled Jamaicans are available at $5500.

The tough-looking Shalako, also based on a Volks chassis, has a front end reminiscent of Grand Prix Porsches of the early Sixties. Its rear deck is sawed off immediately behind the drive wheel, in the best manx-tailed tradition of contemporary racing-car body design. Entry is made through gull-wing doors and built into the door sill on the driver's side is space for a radio, tape player and various other instruments. Prices range from $1995 for a kit sans chassis to $4250 for the VW-engined ready-to-drive version.

Though the merits of the plastic-bodied cars are many, they have remained limited sellers. In fact, since the advent of the first commercially produced fiberglass-bodied automobile--the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette--no other glass job has had the comparable success that many observers predicted would come to those who followed in the Corvette's tread marks. (The Avanti, begun by Studebaker and continued independently, has made a barely discernible dent in the car market.)

But fiberglass has proved manna from heaven to the limited-production manufacturers. Tooling up to produce bodies costs as little as five percent of the price of dies for metal ones, and they can be made in almost one third the time. Fiberglass acquires no rust, doesn't corrode, has fewer squeaks and rattles and sustains less damage than metal when minor collisions occur. It can be cast, molded, extruded, drawn, laminated or sprayed into the most exotic shapes this side of a sculpture gallery. Reasons enough to consider the merits of cooking with glass.