1960 Other Makes

Coupe

4 Cylinder

Manual

Clear

Some of the following history information came from someone at Seagrave (May 30, 2012) The story goes like this... Continental wanted to sell more engines and they approached the Seagrave Corporation with this prototype car. The car body is fiberglass attached to an all steel frame. The engine is a 4 cylinder engine, flat head. The drawings refer to the car as an “American Jet” and at least a couple drawings refer to a “French Jet” version. Other history of the car is still missing. The seats are in good condition except for some flaking paint/vinyl dye on them. Back seats are molded into the interior. Both doors open and close with minor alignment needed. The engine turns over by hand and appears to be ready for it first wake-up call to start. The transmission is free and the clutch engages; the chassis rolls easy on NEW 12 inch tires. The design of the front rolling edges of the fenders combined with the center swoop of the trunk looks light years ahead of its time. The battery tray is located in the trunk. The hood opens similar to the 55- 56 T-bird and ’57 Fords (opens from the cowl). The car is in remarkable condition for it being untouched, not restored. The top is a one piece unit. An assortment of parts in boxes can be seen in the photos attached. I have inventoried the drawings/blueprints and they have several interesting notes on the drawings. That is to say the drawings refer to American Jet Motors, LTD (out of New York), Detroit National Automobile Co., Inc, (Detroit, Michigan address) and French Jet. The story goes that the car was moved from a warehouse in Warren to a scrap dealer and later sold to an individual in Marine City, Mi, sometime in the 1980’s. I got contacted about the all fiberglass car and that's where I rescued the car. It now resides in a dry storage area. We have an e-mail that indicates the Seagrave company is aware of this being the ONLY surviving prototype car. I believe this car could be restored without a lot of trouble. This is a survivor piece of history from 1960-1961 as noted by the dates on the drawings. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>NO TITLE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SOLD AS-IS Out line of spare parts: 2- Manual 3 speed transmissions Boxes of extra parts, radio, heater, tie rod ends, 1 rear end complete ash trays, assorted rubber bumpers, bearings, Front clip and brackets. Trunk lid Extra gasoline tank, exhaust pipes 2 extra rims (wheels) Front windshield (believed to be same for 1956 T Bird)On Feb-06-13 at 15:07:38 PST, seller added the following information: This is a copy of an e-mail from the Seagrave corporation... Tom, I have some general information below from Matt Lee (the author of several Seagrave books and teach of old truck restoration): The cars were hand made by Continental Motors of Muskego, Michigan to promote the sale of gas engines by Continental. None of the automakers wanted them so Continental looked for someone who already had a dealer network …. Seagrave. Seagrave nixed the deal (1960s Seagrave was into the sale to FWD at the time and did not want “excess baggage” that might complicate the deal with FWD.) So the cars were sold as scrap by Continental. IT thought that there were two fiberglass and one aluminum prototypes made. I did see a letter from Seagrave to Continental signed by Andy Ayers, sales manager back then. When I met with Andy a few years ago he could not remember anything about the deal. I did send an email to the guy who used to run the museum, but am unsure if he will have any additional information or not. I will pass along any information if it becomes available. Thank you,Leanne FieldsSeagrave Fire Apparatus, LLC(715) 823-2141 Ext. 1246