American Dream Rides
Pebble Beach, 2023
Overview
Class Information
American Dream Cars of the 1950s
By the 1950s, auto manufacturing was back in full swing worldwide, and many expressive cars were offered by automakers. But a few individuals wanted something different and personal, and they had the imagination and skill to do something about it. The result was a few unique automobiles that owed little of their engineering and styling to convention. This class celebrates one-off and very limited production cars conceived and built by some remarkable individuals whose stories are often as interesting as their cars.
Additional Detail:
Forum Information
Dream Rides: American Dream Cars of the ’50s
Hosted by Ken Gross with Leslie Kendall, Geoff Hacker, Merrill Powell, Mark Hyman & Bob Gurr
Dream cars are what inspire people to design, purchase, drive and create – but not all were built by Detroit. This forum explores the history, inspiration, valuation, validation and display of dream cars that headlined the industry and were built by individuals and small independent firms.
The Pebble Beach Classic Car Forums will be held at the Concours Village, conveniently located across from the Pebble Beach Auctions at Forest Lake Road and Stevenson Drive.
Additional Detail:
Click Here #1 (Pebble Beach Information)
Click Here #2 (Pebble Beach Information)
Five Cars in the Class and Their Background
(Total of Nine Cars in the class)
1958 LeMans Coupe
— The Most Exciting Sports Car Design Constructed In The USA In Years —
Robert Cumberford: SCG Magazine, March 1960
Not Seen In Public Since 1960
No other “Special” of the 1950s captured the imagination of the public as the design, build and debut of Strother MacMinn and John Bond’s LeMans Coupe. Bond created the “challenge” and designed the chassis; MacMinn conceived the body. Considering the concept was penned and published in 1958, the styling was futuristic, the goal was lofty and the challenge was inspirational.
The design originated in a series of articles which were focused on creating a race car that could win the LeMans race in Europe. The challenge in the articles was to “America.” They encouraged individuals and teams to embrace their project and build a car. One team created designs for the chassis while the legendary stylist and Art Center instructor, Strother MacMinn, designed the body. MacMinn later extended the designs in his 1959 book “Sports Cars of the Future” to include several versions of the LeMans Coupe that encompassed race and sports cars.
Although no versions of the race car were ultimately built, several versions of the sports car using MacMinn’s design were finished. And as Robert Cumberford, designer, stylist and author put it in his 1960 article for Sports Car Guide (SCG) magazine, the finished sports car was “The most exciting sports car design constructed in the USA in years.”
Only seven known bodies were built and four versions of the car were finished – just one of these four finished cars is known to exist today. Dennis Kazmerowski is the first person in over sixty years to take on the task of completing a MacMinn LeMans Coupe, and is doing this with one of the three unfinished cars. His LeMans Coupe made its mid-restoration debut in the General Motors Design Dome at the 2022 “Eyes on Design” celebration in Detroit, Michigan. The finished car debuts at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, 2023.
More Information (click on the links below for more information):
LeMans Coupe History
LeMans Coupe: Published Articles
LeMans Coupe: Portfolio
LeMans Coupe: Vintage Photos
1952 Maverick Sportster
— The Maverick Sportster is a Land-Bound Pegasus with Airborne Power and Cloud-Like Riding Quality” —
Maverick Sportster Brochure, 1953
First Shown at Pebble Beach Concours in 1955 by Original Owner / Designer / Builder Sterling Gladwin
The car 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. 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 Cadillac motors. The Maverick Sportster is known as America’s last boattail speedster and is often regarded as America’s Postwar Duesenberg.
This Maverick was originally owned by Smoke and Myrtle Gladwin, and he retained this and another Maverick his entire life. It was first shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1955 and makes its second return to Pebble in August, 2023.
More Information:
Maverick Sportster: Portfolio
Maverick Sportster: Press and Publicity
1952 Manta Ray
— America’s First Fiberglass Bodied Dream Car —
Petersen Motorama, November 1952: Motor Sports World: January 2, 1953
First Shown at the Petersen Motorama in November, 1952
In 1953, Glenn Hire and Vernon Antoine debuted their space age inspired concept car – the Manta Ray – in Los Angeles, California. Both men worked in the jet aircraft division of the North American Aviation Company and wanted to incorporate the swift flowing lines of a jet fighter plane into their car’s styling.
Soon after the debut of their car, Bob Yeakel purchased it and began working with Glenn and Vernon to offer the Manta Ray to the public as a limited production car. A feature article appeared in the February, 1954 issue of Rod and Custom magazine written by Dean Moon who owned “Moon Equipment.”
The Manta Ray also appeared on the cover of Motor Trend in July, 1953 and other magazines such as Motor World, Mechanix Illustrated and Popular Science. The Manta Ray will makes its first appearance at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August, 2023. This car is the only one produced.
More Information:
1952 Manta Ray Showcase:
1955 Debonnaire
— Designed by One of The Tucker Automobile Designers – Phillip Egan —
Designed in 1954; Built in 1955
Not Seen In Public Since The Mid 1950s
One of the most best known individuals who designed a fiberglass sports car in the 1950s was Phillip Egan. Egan was part of the legendary Tucker automobile design team that was headed by Alex Tremulis. After Tucker, Tremulis went to work with Kaiser-Frazer and other firms, and Egan sought out an opportunity presented to him by Replac – a large and successful fiberglass firm founded just after World War II by Val deOlloqui.
Replac hired Phillip Egan to design a car that would be sporty in appearance and easy to build. He did so by creating a body that would fit onto an unmodified Ford chassis – a great choice that was economical and moderate in size (a Cadillac, by comparison, was almost 2 feet longer).
Replac took the design of the car and created an old-school mahogany wood buck for the car molds to be pulled. Next, he created separate molds for each part of the car – front and rear fenders, cowl, doors, bumpers, deck, taillights, dash and more. Replac was also working with Phillip Egan and Sears to make the Debonnaire available for purchase much as the Allstate by Kaiser-Frazer had been sold thru selected Sears locations several years before. The Debonnaire (also called the Venture) was being designed and built like no other fiberglass car in the country – and the public was hungry to learn more.
Motor Trend came out with a short article in July, 1955 – just before there was a fire that destroyed the buck, molds, and it was thought the cars for many years. Almost no mention of this car was made after the fire destroyed the company. Undiscovered Classics has been able to locate and acquire five of the six cars built. The Debonnaire makes its world debut at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
More Information:
Article: The 1955 Debonnaire – Undiscovered Classics, June 2020
1948 Kurtis – Omohundro Comet
— One of America’s First Postwar Sports Cars —
Frank Kurtis Designed / Coachbuilt in Aluminum by Paul Omohundro and Comet Industries
Rare Postwar Boattail Speedster Design
Not Seen In Public Since the Mid 1950s
Frank Kurtis and Paul Omohundro collaborated on three projects in their lifetime.
- Paul’s drop forge hammer company, Comet Industries, was one of the dedicated shops that produced quarter-midget bodies for Kurtis.
- Paul’s company supplied the fiberglass fenders (front/rear) hood and trunk for any Kurtis Sports Car (KSC) that were ordered with them (Motor Trend, October, 1950) which made the KSC the first production car that used fiberglass panels.
- Their final collaboration was of two aluminum bodied sports cars based on Kurtis design – the 1947 and 1948 Kurtis-Omohundro Comets.
Each car took Comet Industries one year to complete. The 1948 Comet differed in many ways from the Comet built in 1947. The 1948 sports car was built on a Mercury chassis, had a Cadillac drivetrain with automatic transmission, larger cockpit, more stylish grille and windscreen and a slightly longer wheelbase. Other changes included hood shape, size of doors and shape of wheel openings.
The 1948 Comet debuted in the February, 1949 issue of Road & Track magazine – the fifth issue of Road & Track published. The car was shown on a full-page spread and was one of the first aluminum coachbuilt sports cars published by Road & Track to an enthusiastic worldwide audience. It next appeared in the December, 1949 issue of Popular Mechanics in an article titled “New Breed of Sports Cars” as one of the most successful sports cars of its era. In 1949 “Autocar” magazine from Great Britain featured the Kurtis-Omohundro introducing this American sports car to an even larger audience on the continent and beyond. The Comet was also featured in the February, 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics in France which further extended the reach and awareness of this car.
In 1951, Trend Inc., (publisher of Motor Trend, Hot Rod & other magazines) published their first and most important book on custom cars. In this book the 1948 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet was featured in a 2-page spread. It also appeared in additional Trend magazines thru late 1952. Lost for over 50 years, the Undiscovered Classics team set out to find and acquire both Kurtis-Omohundro Comets – which they did. The 1947 Comet has been shown and won numerous awards at concours. The 1948 Kurtis-Omohundro Comet will debut at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
More Information:
Magazine Article: Tale of the Comet: Rare & Unique Vehicles – Winter, 2022 (6 pages)
Dawn Patrol at Pebble Beach
Sunday, August 20th
Pebble Beach Transportation Lot: Opens 5:30am
Expected Pebble Beach Concours Attendance for Sunday: 15,000
Each of you will be driving your cars onto the lawn 2 weeks from today. The morning “drive” from the trailers to the field at Pebble is called “Dawn Patrol” and is a revered tradition since it started at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1950. You can learn more about it directly from Pebble here:
Hagerty has sponsored “Dawn Patrol” since 2004, and it should be spectacular this year – especially with the cars in our class. Here is some background that is important to remember two weeks from today:
- The field opens at 5:30am for you to be at your cars (my team will leave between 4am and 4:30am to be there) and I’ll be there to help if you need anything
- Temperatures for Sunday August 20th (day of concours) are estimated to be 57 degrees as a low and 69 degrees as a high
- Sunrise at Pebble on August 20th is 6:30am
- Dawn Patrol Begins: Cars will leave the Transportation Lots and begin driving onto the field between 6:30am and 7:30 am
Here are some more backstories on Dawn Patrol at Pebble if you want to learn more:
California Dreamin’
By Ken Gross
Pebble Beach Concours ‘Elegance Program
(Do Not Share Pages Below Until After the Concours – August 20, 2023)
Petersen Museum Will Feature LeMans Coupe After Pebble
Directly after the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Petersen will transport and install Dennis Kazmerowski’s LeMans Coupe into their newly opened exhibit “Fast / Forward: Strother MacMinn’s Sports Cars of the Future.”