Jack,
Thank you for the information on the magazine.
On my way home from work last night I stopped by a friend's house to look at his copy of KFOCI QUARTERLY (Volume 44 Number 3) magazine. Due to the weather and family activities, I had to leave before finishing the article (pages 12-26), but he was kind enough to let me bring it home to finish reading it. Dean Trask did a great job writing the article and it sounds like the 50th Annual National Convention in Salem, OR was a hit.
I noticed the pictures of both sports cars right away. The first car, bottom photo in the left column of page 12, is a Glasspar G2. At first glance the second car, bottom photo, middle of pages 12 and 13, looked like an Excalibur J sports/race car.
Jim,
When I got back online to post this reply, I saw the photos you added, which identifies both.
As you indicated, the yellow car (same as the first car above) is a Glasspar G2. The Glasspar G2s were built by Bill Tritt/Glasspar between 1950 and 1956. Bill/Glasspar sold several hundred of these in both complete car form, kits, and to several companies that modified and sold them in complete or kit for with their own branding. The Woodill Wildfire is one of the better known versions of this body. With a 101 inch wheelbase, the body could be put on many different chassis. Many were put on modified Ford chassis. while others were put on one of several custom built chassis made for the G2 and Wildfires. Those also used Ford suspension parts. My understanding on the Wildfire is that Woody Woodill was a Willys dealer and used Willys chassis for some of the ones he built and sold as complete cars. I also know of a G2 with a 1953 Willys chassis on it, and the one at the National Convention looks right at home sitting on a Henry J chassis.
I've spoke with Bill Tritt's son and shared photos of my car body and information about it him. He in turn looked through his families documentation on the Glasspar cars and boats, as well as speaking with his father about it. Bill is 93/94 year old, but still with us. Both have assured me that Bill/Glasspar did not build my cars body. They also provided some great knowledge on what skills, experience and planning it takes to build a fiberglass body to the state that mine is in, as well as the type and amount work necessary to make the body itself road worthy and mountable on a chassis.
Here is a much more in-depth history on Bill Tritt and the Glasspar cars. It is a really great read and includes mention of Bill providing information and a G2 body to Darrin. - Bills son even shared with me that Bill tried to talk Darrin out of the sliding door design. His words were "I tried to tell Dutch that it was a dangerous and crazy design! It will take someone's hand off because they will slide open/closed on hills!"
http://www.fiberglasssportscars.com/Glasspar/History/History.htmMoving on to the second car, as I mentioned, my first impression was that it was a Brooks Stevens designed Excalibur J sports/race car.
Brooks did design work for a number of companies, including Kaiser Frazer. He tried to sell the idea of a sports/race car to the Kaiser company. When the idea didn't sell, he purchased several Henry J chassis (in 1951) and built 3 Excalibur J race cars on his own. These were aluminum bodied, with Willys F-head engines in two and various engines being reported in the third. The first engine being an Alfa Romeo and later a Jaguar engine.
All three of these cars were raced successfully, with various modifications made to keep them competitive. By the late 50's, Brooks was working with Studebaker and built new cars (Excalibur SS) based on the Packard chassis and using Studebaker power plants.
The two Henry J powered car are, or until recently were, in the hands of Brooks Stevens sons. I've been told that the third car also exists and is owned by someone in Wisconsin. I do not have any confirmation on it though.
I've spoken with Brooks sons and, like the Tritt family, they have looked at their fathers work/records and the design companies (which is still in business) records and have been unable to find a link. They also tell me that the general shape and flow of lines is not in his style.
Below is a photo of an Excalibur J so that you can see the similarities and differences between it and the Carston.
Moving back to the Carston Custom of Wheeling, IL.
I had never heard of this car before so I Googled several variations of the name, town, etc. Wheeling is a suburb of Chicago, which is a couple hours from where I live. Since the only good "hit" I found via Google is a Studebaker page that lists Carston Motors, Wheeling, IL as a dealer, I've contacted the public library up there and asked if they can do a search of their news articles, public records, etc. for any name, address, etc. that may help me research this car further.
At this point, I am not seeing a connection between the Carston and my car, as the designs and shape are significantly different. Still, I am going to learn more about the Carston and will share with the group here. If it has a fiberglass body, I'll also share with the fiberglass car group (
www.forgottenfiberglass.com) that I've joined.
Thank you both for the great input and information.
The mystery remains wide open and I'm open to more input, thoughts, suggestions, etc.
Thank you.
Darren Swanson
