For  Sale
1953  Maverick  Sportster  (Unrestored)
America’s  Last  Boattailed  Speedster

—   California Flavored 1950s Take on the French “Boulevardier”  —
—   Few Sport Customs Were Designed and Built  —
—   California Car  —

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Restored  Maverick  Sportster
Owners:  Tom and Barb Chandler

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Overview

Sport Custom cars appeared as a postwar car movement where the design and build of the car was the result of a talented and skilled individual(s) or small company. These cars were often larger than a American sports car of this era which typically used a 100 inch wheelbase (about the size of a Corvette).

This type or car is sometimes referred to as an American Boulevard Cruiser, and they are all of original or near original design. This movement lasted approximately from 1946 to 1959, with earlier cars being built from steel or aluminum and later ones typically in fiberglass. John Bond, owner and editor of Road & Track magazine in the 1950s thought approximately 1000 of these cars were built across America during these years.

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The  Maverick  Sportster

The Maverick was designed by Sterling “Smoke” Gladwin Jr., of Mountain View, California who was an aeronautical engineer having worked for Boeing and Lockheed.  Inspired with the elegance of pre-war automobile design, Gladwin built a postwar boulevard sports car with modern power and classic lines.  He envisioned a grand cruiser for the vast Southwest that would appeal to the wealthy and famous.

His first Maverick was built on a 1940 LaSalle chassis and utilized a flathead Cadillac V8 motor.  His company, Maverick Motors, built 6 more customer cars using postwar Cadillac chassis’ and 331 cubic inch Cadillac motors.  A total of 7 cars were built in the early to mid 1950s.

The Maverick first appeared on the public stage at the 1953 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance—a time when new cars such as the Maverick competed and were shown with vintage automobiles.  The Maverick also appeared at the 1955 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Magazine and newspaper articles were plentiful and articles about the Maverick were featured in Motor Trend, Cars, Modern Plastics, Car Life, Motor America and others. This Maverick was originally owned by Smoke Gladwin and his wife Myrtle.  The Maverick Sportster is known as America’s last boattail speedster and is often regarded as America’s Postwar Duesenberg.

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Body Design

• Inspired by the design of a 1933 Essex-Terraplane boattail speedster, the Maverick Sportster is recognized as America’s last boattail speedster

Chassis, Suspension, Brakes and Drivetrain

• 1957 Cadillac Chassis and Drivetrain with dual quad carburetors; Hydramatic transmission

Production

• 1 of 7 built; 1 of 3 known to exist.  Last unrestored example.

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Based on research by Alden Jewell and myself, we believe this Maverick was once owned by David Schuette and appeared in the 1961 Oakland Roadster show – images below.

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Based on shape of passenger door, the car below may be same car as car above

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Maverick  Sportster  Title  and  Blueprints

My Maverick was purported built by one of the employees for the company.  He kept the car his entire life and sold it (or estate sold it) to the person I bought it from about 10 years ago.  The previous owner had owned the car for about 10 years or more.  See title below showing car as a “Maverick” in 1954.

Click Here To Review The 64 Page Book Above

Click Here To Review The 39 Page Book Above

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Parts  That  Come  With  Car

Hood Ornament and Hood Hinge Template (Used in Build of the Blue Maverick)

This is an aluminum casting of the original hood ornament.  We used the same casting for the Blue Maverick.  We also created articulating hood hinges for the Maverick hood and the photos below show our test template to test the design of the hinge – which worked perfectly.

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Maverick / LaSalle Grille and Bumper Patterns (Used in Build of the Blue Maverick)

This is an original 1940 LaSalle grille which would need to be modified (shortened) and used to create the Maverick grille.  The patterns for the front and rear bumpers shown below are wood (except for one) and were built to fit the blue Maverick.  Our final bumpers where cut from aluminum, beveled  and polished.

Maverick / LaSalle Grille and Bumper Patterns (Used in Build of the Blue Maverick)

I have the patterns for the windshield on the blue Maverick Sportster.  We can use these with a foundry I use to make a set for you.  We can talk about this if you are interested in the car – it’s not expensive and would just be the foundry cost for one set.  Once the produce a set, the resulting pieces would need to be polished.  This is the same technique used to create the cars I study/restore that were built in the 1950s..

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Renderings  of  Possible  Finished  Car