Go Speed Racer, Go!

[Legal Bill]

You don't see this every day!

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Austin-He...=item41555ccfb4

 

[Randy Forbes]

It's different! Pretty cool, really, I especially like the seats!

Interesting location for the ignition switch...

 

[Legal Bill]

Working from memory, I think that particular body style was called the Jamaica. I could probably confirm that with a google search.

 

[AUSMHLY]

Bill, google to the rescue. The Jamaican.

 

[AUSMHLY]

It's different! Pretty cool, really, I especially like the seats!
Interesting location for the ignition switch...

And I thought my mirror stem was tall!


https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Austin-He...1555ccfb4#v4-37

 

[HealeyRick]

I think this might be a one-off by Fiberfab. I don't recall ever seeing a convertible Jamaican in the contemporary ads, although I could have been distracted by the girls in miniskirts and bikinis that were always a feature. This car doesn't look like someone hacked off the roof of a Jamaican body and what I really find interesting is the Fiberfab manufacturing plate that shows a body number and engine number. The ad says the car was manufactured by Fiberfab, which makes me wonder if they built the whole car.

 

[Legal Bill]

It's different! Pretty cool, really, I especially like the seats!
Interesting location for the ignition switch...

And I thought my mirror stem was tall!

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Austin-He...1555ccfb4#v4-37

"Up periscope!"

 

[Legal Bill]

Ausm, I guess I was wrong. I looked around on Google and can't find anything that looks like this one. The Fibrefab web site has a short historic system that states the old company did build cars.

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Bill, google to the rescue. The Jamaican.

I saw two of these Fiberfabs off the side of I35 between Temple, TX and Austin, Tx last year. I took some pics but I lost them. The last time I drove by the area where I originally saw them they were both gone.
Patrick

 

[Jamaican]

It's a Fiberfab Banshee but I'm not sure if any were originally roadsters. The car was later called the Caribee as GM is reported to have "bought" the rights to the name. The Pontiac Banshee concept car was from 64 so I wonder who really had rights to it at that point. At the same time GM was not thrilled with the Centurion clone of the 58 SS racer that looked very much like a then new 64 Corvette and production of that car was killed off. So what actually happened is probably in a legal file somewhere.

I have a BN6 with a 68 Jamacain body and I once had one on a 64 Tr-4. As much as I like some of these old kit bodies and early specials many are on top of chassis that looked better stock. If a guy scraped out a BN6 today for a kit car he'd be commited but in 68 I guess it was all about something that looked exotic.

 

[HealeyRick]

As I remember, Pontiac nixed the Banshee name when they realized it was an Irish spirit that was an omen of death.

 

[Jamaican]

I've read that too Rick, but Pontaic did reuse the name. I'm sure they would rename the car versus killing it if GM was serious about it.

Delorean was told to make due with the F-body program and it was shut down. Looking more like a production 68-72 Corvette than the Mako Shark II concept surely did not help.

 

[AUSMHLY]

I see a lot of different cars in that design.
Opel, early Camero, Corvette.