1956 Almquist Sabre Roadster

Ed Almquist had one of the first speed shops in America. He took orders via popular magazines for speed equipment beginning in 1946. He got into the fiberglass sports car business when a friend of his, Harry Heim, approached him with the car he designed and first marketed through his company Clearfield Plastics, of Clearfield Pennsylvania following an initial debut at a Watkins Glen show in 1955. By 1956, Heim had persuaded Almquist to offer these bodies and market them nationally – the 94-inch wheelbase Sabre and the 100-inch wheelbase Speedster. Options allowed different mounting techniques for headlights, hood scoops, and even a convertible top. Later bodies were offered in the late 1950's and early 1960's called the Thunderbolt and El Morocco. Almquist-bodied sports cars raced predominantly throughout the northeast and Midwest. Four are known to exist today including this example powered by a 1939 Ford flathead V-8.