1952 Maverick

Also from August 3rd's Concours d'Elegance. As read from the placard:

1952 Maverick Motors Boattail Speedster

'Only Seven Built, Only One Survives'

The Maverick Sportster was created by engineer H. Sterling Gladwin. This fiberglass boat-tail speedster body weighed in at 210 pounds, and all but the first car were affixed to a massive 128-inch wheelbase modified Cadillac Eldorado frame, housing a 331 cubic inch Cadillac motor. The 'turned copper' dash held Studebaker and Mercury instruments, as well as a tach.

Gladwin's personal car, the first of seven cars produced, came without doors, hood or deck. Louvered, removable access panels were mounted on the fenders. They were used for normal maintenance and to add fluids.

Before he built the second car, however, Gladwin modified #1 and gave it a hood and permanent body mounts. It was not an 'all-weather' car since it never had a top or windshield wipers, although plans called for such items as a top, doors and a rumble seat. Seven complete cars were built during the company's tenure from 1952 to 1968, as well as an unspecified number of body shells.

The car you see here was the #1 car. It was attached to a 1940 LaSalle frame and originally had a flathead Cadillac motor. It was later updated with a hood and the same Eldorado motor as the rest of the cars. To date, it is the only example of the car that has surfaced.

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Good shots & thanks for the details.

Way back when, cars came without bodies. The owner would take them to a coachbuilder to have his own body made for them.

Neat lookin' car. Any pics of the back end? Does it have anything akin to a "Boattail"?

jseivert wrote in post #6108241
Neat lookin' car. Any pics of the back end? Does it have anything akin to a "Boattail"?

Yes, I seem to remember an actual boattail-looking rear end. Unfortunately, with the boundary ropes and other obstacles, I didn't find an acceptable shooting angle to capture it without cluttering the shot.