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Kaiser Darrin – The World’s First Mass-Produced Fiberglass Bodied Sports Car

The Kaiser Darrin is an unusual American car that is considerably less famous than it deserves to be. The Darrin was the first mass-produced fiberglass-bodied sports car in the world, meaning of course that it was also the first composite-bodied production car.

Developing The Kaiser Darrin (In Secret)

Much like the Lamborghini Miura which would be developed decades later, the Kaiser Darrin was developed completely in secret, out of the sight of Kaiser company executives. This cloak and dagger approach was taken because it had been made clear that Kaiser wanted to focus on selling an affordable “every man” car in post-WWII America, the Henry J sedan.

American automotive designer Howard “Dutch” Darrin released he could turn the chassis and powertrain of the Henry J into a sports car if he simply removed the steel body from the chassis, and replaced it with a lightweight, sleek sports car body, and then made some modifications to the suspension.

Using steel for the new body would be out of the question as it would require expensive stamping equipment, aluminium alloy would prove similarly expensive due to the intensive craftsmanship each panel would need – so Darrin pursued fiberglass.

Fibreglass was a new, advanced material at the time that promised to revolutionize the automobile industry. Once a mould was created the fiberglass cloth was laid down and coated with resin, then left to dry. This was a simple process, so simple that workers could typically be trained in a single day.

Above Image: Here you can see the Darrin’s unusual doors that slide forward into the front fender rather than swinging out as with regular cars.

What Darrin did was design a body to fit the wheelbase of the Henry J, he then had it made from fiberglass by Bill Tritt, a man who had pioneered the use of fibreglass in sports car bodies. This body was then fitted to the chassis in secret, the car was finished off and Darrin unveiled it to company boss Henry J. Kaiser.

Kaiser’s reaction was ferocious, Darrin quickly explained that the car hadn’t been developed on company time or with company funds, which helped calm the boss down a little, but he was still adamant that it would never be put into production.

That is until his wife took him aside and said “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I don’t see why you aren’t in the business of building sports cars. I don’t think there will be many automobile companies that won’t go into the sports car business after seeing this car.”

This completely changed Kaiser’s mind, he cautiously agreed to the project, much to Darrin’s relief.

Prior to this there had been a few small-scale companies in the United States offering both turnkey fiberglass cars and fiberglass bodies that could be fitted onto pre-existing chassis. The Darrin was the first release from a “big” company, being unveiled at the 1952 Los Angeles Motorama, two months before the first Corvette was released with its fiberglass body.

Delays meant that although people could order their car, none were delivered until 1954. These delays coupled with the somewhat disappointing performance capabilities of the car led to it not being particularly popular – the top speed was just 95 mph and it took 15 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph.

Above Image: The interior of the Darrin is beautifully appointed and not dissimilar to the early Corvettes of the same era.

Due to the fact the car hadn’t originally been designed as a sports car the handling also suffered compared to its British rivals. As a result of these issues and some bad luck with a freak snowstorm, the Kaiser Darrin would be produced for one year only, 1954, and just 435 would be made.

Today the surviving examples of the unusual car are a highlight at any auto show they attend, people love to comment on the unusual “fan shell” front grille and the doors that disappear into the front fenders are a major highlight. The historic importance of the car seems to be increasingly recognized – particularly as lightweight composites become more and more common in automobile construction.

Over the years owners have learned to tweak their cars to notably improve handling, some even added superchargers to boost output from the 161 cu. in. (2.6 litre) F-head 6-cylinder engine.

The 1954 Kaiser Darrin Shown Here

The car you see here is the 67th of the 435 that were built, it received a body-off restoration in the 1990s and it’s now presented in period-correct condition with its 161 cu. in. 91 hp F-head Willys 6-cylinder engine, 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive, and correct interior.

The most common color for the Darrin was white and the red interior certainly suits it well, this car is one of the nicest examples of the rare model we’ve seen in recent years so it’ll be interesting to see what it sells for.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum, it’s being offered with no reserve at the Indy Auction in mid-May.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/kaiser-darrin-car/
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For Sale: A Lada Riva Sedan – The Soviet Union’s Workhorse

In the West our knowledge of cars from behind the Iron Curtain is often lacking, largely due to lack of exposure or first hand experience. The car you see here is the Lada 2107, also known as the Lada Riva or the Lada Nova, and it’s a member of the Lada Classic series.

The Lada Classic series was, by and large, the family of vehicles that moved the majority of the Soviet Union’s car driving public. The model family can be separated into three main groups, the VAZ-2105, the VAZ-2104, and the VAZ-2107.

The 2105 was the base model, the 2104 was the estate or station wagon model, and the 2107 was the desirable deluxe version. All of these cars were based on the Fiat 124 platform from the 1960s – the Fiat 124 is an unsung hero in the automotive world, it’s the third best selling automobile platform after the Volkswagen Beetle and the Model T Ford due to the licensing deals done around the world.

Perhaps the most interesting version of the Lada Classic is the 140 bhp Wankel rotary-engined Lada 21059 and Lada 21079 versions developed for use by the KGB and the Interior Ministry. These cars tipped the scales at approximately 955 kgs (2,105 lbs) and so with 140 bhp under the hood they were among the fastest cars on the road in Russia and the Eastern Bloc countries.

The Lada 2107, like the one you see here, was powered by engine 2103, a 1.5 litre, carburetor fed inline-four. The cars have four doors, three box sedan styling, a spacious trunk, and front disc brakes with drums on the rear.

The Lada Classic vehicles series was the best selling in Russia and many Eastern European countries for decades, and they’re still one of the most popular secondhand cars on the market to this day. They remained in production in Russia until 2012, however the production didn’t stop there, in Egypt they were still building them until 2015.

The Soviet Union was desperate for foreign income and so a number of export agreements were agreed with nations like Britain, Canada, New Zealand, France, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Denmark, Colombia, and others.

Interestingly the New Zealanders struck a deal with the Soviets to trade the cars for mutton and butter, with no money changing hands at all. It was an unusual barter agreement the likes of which we rarely see anymore, particularly in the automotive world. As a result of this many Lada Classics can still be found in New Zealand, a nation over 10,000 miles from Moscow.

The Lada 2017 you see here is in remarkably original condition throughout, a rare find given the hard life so many of these cars lived, particularly on the salted roads of Russian cities during winter. It’s fitted with the 1.5 litre engine and a 4-speed manual transmission, it has a blue exterior, a black interior, and it’s riding on an original set of steel wheels.

The car is accompanied by its original owner’s manual and the factory accessories including the first aid kit, tool kit, spare tire, and jack. The odometer is now showing 36,907 kilometers and the car is due to cross the auction block with Mecum in April, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Editor’s Note: The vehicle has crossed the auction block already, fetching a high bed of $8,000 USD. We had this post in the publishing queue and missed publishing it before the auction date for which we apologize.

Images: Mecum

The post For Sale: A Lada Riva Sedan – The Soviet Union’s Workhorse appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/lada-riva-car/
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The Cobra Dragster – An 8+ Foot Long R/C Two-Stroke Nitrous Dragster Capable Of 70+ MPH

In the world of R/C cars there are your standard off-the-shelf designs popular with kids and adults alike, then there are the slightly more serious vehicles like this – the 70+ mph Cobra Dragster.

The Cobra Dragster was built by Jimmy Parker of Performance Drag Products in the early 1990s, it’s powered by a 3 hp Zenoah two-stroke engine that runs on a 64:1 fuel/oil mixture with nitrous oxide, and it has an 8,500 rpm red line.

Power is sent to the rear wheels via a centrifugal clutch and a straight driveshaft. The car measures in at 8.25 feet long, or 99 inches/251 cm, it weighs 25 lbs (11.3 kgs), and it uses a remote control handset to operate the throttle, brakes, and steering.

The car has a frame made up of strong, lightweight chromoly steel tubing and the engine is mounted behind the driver. The single-cylinder Zenoah engine is a simple air-cooled unit that has been used in a wide variety of R/C vehicles over the years, and a modern version of this engine is still in production by the company today.

Above Video: Footage of amateur drag racing in Brooklyn, it’s astonishing how quick some of these cars are able to get off the line. Skip ahead to 5:12 to see R/C drag racers like the one pictured here in action.

R/C drag racing is a highly competitive subset of the R/C racing world with local, national, and international competition levels. For fans of drag racing this offers a far cheaper and easier way to get into the sport, with the added benefit of being able to carry your car to and from the start line.

If you’d like to read more about this unusual 1:4 scale dragster or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on RM Sotheby’s. It’s due to cross the auction block in early May and at the time of writing there’s no price guide.

The post The Cobra Dragster – An 8+ Foot Long R/C Two-Stroke Nitrous Dragster Capable Of 70+ MPH appeared first on Silodrome.

from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/cobra-dragster-rc-car/
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For Sale: An Alvis Sabre Light Tank – A Pandemic Proof Daily Driver?

This is an Alvis Sabre light tank and it’s historically notable for a couple of reasons, the most significant of which is that it’s directly based on the FV101 Scorpion light tank which holds the Guinness World Record for being the fastest production tank in the world – it achieved 82.23 km/h (51.10 mph) during testing.

The Alvis Sabre Light Tank

Interestingly the Alvis Sabre was never really meant to exist. Its design is an amalgam that includes the turret from the wheeled Fox Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle mounted on the hull of the tracked FV101 Scorpion light tank. The resulting vehicle was called the Sabre, it benefitted from the high-speed tracked platform of the Scorpion coupled with the 30mm RARDEN cannon from the Fox.

The Sabre was a late addition to the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) or CVR(T) family of vehicles built by Alvis. If the name Alvis sounds vaguely familiar to you it may be because they started out building cars in England in 1919. Alvis would build regular cars, luxury cars, racing cars, and aircraft engines before diversifying into military vehicles.

Alvis stopped building cars in 1967 after it was acquired by Rover in 1965, all focus was then shifted to the firm’s successful armored vehicle division which would remain in production until it was taken over by the BAE Systems Land & Armaments group where it remains today.

The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) originally began development in the 1960s with a view to replacing the Alvis Saladin armoured car, which had been in production since 1958. This new family of armored vehicles would be designed to share as many parts as possible while also being extensible enough to fulfill a multitude of roles for both British armed forces and the armed forces of customer nations.

The most famous member of the CVR(T) family is likely the FV101 Scorpion due to its famous top speed record but other members of the family include the FV102 Striker, FV103 Spartan, FV104 Samaritan, FV105 Sultan, FV106 Samson, FV107 Scimitar, and of course, the Sabre.

When first developed the CVR(T) vehicles were designed to use many automotive components and suspension in order to keep costs down and to ensure that spare parts would be both cheap and plentiful. The engine that was first used was the 4.2 litre version of the Jaguar XK DOHC straight-six petrol engine – an engine that had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans under the hood of the D-Type in 1955, 1956, and 1957.

Later versions of these vehicles would be fitted with the Cummins BTA 5.9 diesel engine, which was both more powerful and more fuel efficient, though sadly without the Le Mans distinction. The Sabre was fitted with the aforementioned 30mm RARDEN cannon as well as a co-axial L94A1 7.62mm chain gun, with smoke grenade launchers to keep the vehicle hidden from view when required.

Typically, each Alvis Sabre would be equipped with 160 rounds of Armour-Piercing Enhanced Penetration (APEP) and High Explosive (HE) ammunition, as well as 3,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. A crew of three was assigned to each tank which included a commander, a driver, and a gunner.

It’s believed that 136 examples of the Sabre were built, entering service in 1995 and leaving service in 2004. Today many of them are either in museums or in private hands where due to their smaller size and higher speeds they make popular road-legal tanks.

The Alvis Sabre Shown Here

The Sabre you see here is a relatively low-mileage example with just 6,088 miles on the clock. It’s believed to be fitted with a petrol engine, likely the Jaguar XK straight-six, and both its cannon and machine gun have been decommissioned.

If you’d like to read more about it or place a bit it’s currently for sale on Collecting Cars with 15 bids cast and the current bid sitting at £15,250 at the time of writing. You can click here to visit the listing, please note that the tank is currently located in North Yorkshire.

Images courtesy of Collecting Cars

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from Silodrome https://silodrome.com/alvis-sabre-light-tank/
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The Mini Jeep – A Drivable Gasoline-Powered Off Roader

This mini Jeep is modeled on the WW2-era military MB/GPW Jeeps from the early to mid 1940s. Just like the original full sized Jeep this one uses steel body-on-frame construction, it’s army green with a folding canvas top, and it has a front-mounted gasoline engine.

Each one of these mini Jeeps was built by East Coast Mini Classics of Sanford, Maine to a surprisingly detailed level – even the tire tread pattern is correct for the era. Inside you’ll find seating for two children, though no age limits are listed, and the steering wheel is mounted on the left with a large throttle pedal.

The vehicle is powered by a 13 hp Honda gasoline engine with an electric starter, it uses a hydrostatic drive with reverse, as well as rack-and-pinion steering, all-wheel suspension, and it has a full-floating rear axle with an aluminum differential.

The engine has a heavy-duty oil cooling system, it has dual hydraulic disc brakes, and an emergency parking brake. The mini Jeep has a complete lighting system including headlights which is powered by a 20 amp alternator, and it has a new deep cycle maintenance-free battery.

Above Image: The Mini Jeep has seating for two children, a fully functioning lighting system, rack and pinion steering, and a 13 hp gasoline engine mounted up front.

Interestingly the team at East Coast Mini Classics fitted it with a functional front-mounted Warn winch as well as authentic military surplus accessories such as a jerry can, canteens, a shovel, an axe, camouflage netting, and storage pouches.

The top speed isn’t listed however it’s safe to expect that it would be modest, the reasonable ground clearance would make it suitable for some simple off-asphalt excursions and the folding top will come in handy if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

This mini Jeep is due to cross the auction block with RM Sotheby’s in early May, if you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.