And while we’re in a scholarly pursuit of the car body history, why not take a look, then a second look at this one?

Hard to believe it, but, ye, this one’s supposed to be a car. The SixNine Performance Car. Talk about high tech and wild imagination.

Designed by André Lyngra, the car is inspired by the leopard and the stingray, fashioned as such for speed. So that’s why it looks sexy and light.

For sure, though, Dexter wouldn’t choose this one. Not too perfect a car to hide those stiff, heavy, cold bodies.

1967

This year, Bayer surprised the auto industry with a vehicle whose plastic body had “sandwich panels.”

Sounds yummy, er, interesting? Calm your grumbling tummy, this term just meant a structure whose firm and strong layer is attached either side of a thick and light layer. Essentially, it’s the outer layers that carry the bending load, while it’s the inner layer that does this for the shear load. This brings about efficiency because the thickness and rigidity of the body panels can be enhanced without much weight impact. In layman’s terms, the sandwich panel construction has proven crashworthiness—the very reason why it’s also widely used in the marine and aerospace industries aside from high-performance cars.

In Bayer’s case, the vehicle had two glass-fiber reinforced plastic outer layers and one polyurethane foam inner layer. However, materials that can be used in recent times vary from carbon, glass, aramid fiber-reinforced polymer to aluminum for the outer layers and from balsa, polymer foams, metallic paper to polymer honeycombs for the inner layer.

1963-1964

In Italy, la vita on the road was marked by cars of unibody frame and fiberglass reinforced plastic body panels: ASA 1000 Spyder, Autobianchi Stellina, Bagheera, LMX, S.S. 100, among others.

So what was the edge of fiberglass reinforced plastic? It was:

• Rust-resistant
• Corrosion-proof
• Lightweight (about half the weight of steel body panels with the same size)
• Tough (could withstand damage during minor accidents)
• Quick repair (incurred damage would affect only the area involved and not the whole body, so it could be restored fast and cheap)

1962

In this year, another type of chassis was created—the Backbone Chassis—with the birth of Lotus Elan. Thank Colin Chapman for this invention.

This racing car was built using a frame structure that could be likened to the Body-on-Frame Design. The difference though was that it was made of a steel tubular backbone (thus, the name), instead of a 2D ladder construction, to connect the front and rear suspension section of the vehicle. The frame was made as strong to support the body, which was comprised of fiberglass body panels.

1960s

The Body-on-Frame was still the mode for cars in the USA.

This construction means attaching a body to a strong frame in support of the drivetrain. It’s applied mostly to SUVs and trucks, those vehicles that require a beast’s might to carry and transport heavy load. You’ve got to remember that we’ve come a long way from wood frames to steel ladder frames!

But why the ladder frame, you ask? Well, it’s the type of construction that easily adapts to automobile design changes without the need for any chassis alteration. So you can enhance the car’s bodywork and interior area while leaving both the chassis and driveline untouched. That’s minimal cost and short design time for auto manufacturers. Ye, practicality and economy almost always rule.

1960s

- The steel unibody was widely used among European auto manufacturers.

- The latter end of the decade was marked by the development of the steel unibody’s premier internal standards and procedures.

1959

The racing world welcomed the 1960/61 Maserati Tipo, recognized as one of the greatest cars of all time. Also known as the Birdcage, it was titled such because of its tubular chassis’ complex design. Two hundred tubes of 10, 12, and 15 mm diameter intricately welded together—no wonder!

A look at the specifics:

• Front structure – comprised three horizontal planes joined together by triangular meshes and solid plates for total support, particularly in the most critical areas
• Other parts – though less complicated, they nonetheless used holed sheet plates for durability
• Tubes – featured mid-quality steel; built especially to prevent elastic deformations from bringing about weld seam fractures

The result: An ultra light but super strong construction.

The cost: $11,000—and this was fifty years ago!

Now the tale of the fiberglass body continues…

Come 1946, Bill Tritt, a Californian boat builder, was asked to manufacture a sailboat of fiberglass material. The deal was to have a high-performance construction that measured 20 feet. Tritt, however, so succeeded in his endeavor that he even came up with four sailboats!

Three years later, Tritt’s pal, Ken Brooks, a hotrod aficionado, requested Tritt for a fiberglass body he would use for his modified car. Alas, success for the second time! This came to be the 1951 Brooks Browser. It earned positive feedback during the Los Angeles Motorama show, as well as from a lot of reputable magazines.

Tritt was too thrilled with the outcome that he decided to extend his boat biz to car bodies. It was rather a good move as third and fourth successes soon followed. The first Glasspar G2 sports roadster and a G2-based roadster for the Naugatuck Chemical Co., dubbed as the Alembic I.

And what do you know; luck could also come in fives! General Motors, THE auto manufacturer, saw the Alembic I, put it under scrutiny, and probably loved it—that they had a fiberglass body in the 1953 Chevrolet Corvette.

A high five for Bill Tritt!

1953

The first production car with a fiberglass body (and a steel spaceframe frame) was showcased this year. The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette.

Did you know that the fiberglass was originally used for boat-building? Ye, because of its light weight and heavy-duty strength.

Fiberglass or glass-reinforced plastic came into the market prior to World War II, under the Owens-Corning Co. of Corning, New York. However, its function was maximized during the war when it was further developed for radar domes and similar protective constructions. So it became more resistant to various impact and temperature levels. Plus, it also had a greater paint luster quality.

1950s

It was the beginning of the great automobile reign. The next 20 years were a treat to every motorist and car fanatic out there. And why not? There was:

- High demand for automobiles, so there was equally high automobile production rate.

- Wide use of the stamped steel unibody structure because of:

• Inexpensive material

• Easy manufacture process

• High production rate

• Inexpensive unit