1952 Glasspar G2

Roadster

The Glasspar was born in 1949 when Major Ken Brooks showed California fiberglass boat builder Bill Tritt the hot rod he was building. It was a stripped-down Willys with a modified V-8. Tritt convinced Brooks to clothe the car in fiberglass. The G2, according to records, was the first production fiberglass-bodied car. An example is in the Smithsonian Institution. The first model was shown at the Philadelphia Plastic Show in 1952 and appeared in many newspapers and national magazines.

The wheelbase is 101 inches with the engine set back for better weight distribution. Cars were first fitted with Willys flathead 6 or Ford flathead V-8s. This car runs the later Ford Y-block V-8, with tri-carburetors coupled to a 1940s Ford truck three-speed transmission, all mounted on an early 1940s Ford frame.

This G2 was a finisher of the 2008 Colorado Grand.

Roadster

In 1946 William Tritt was approached by his friend John Green who asked him to build a boat from a novel new material called fiberglass. Tritt quickly embraced the new plastic material for boat construction. By 1950, along with two partners, he established Glasspar of Santa Anna, California. He built his first car in 1951, patterning it after the Jaguar XK120. Known as the Brooks Boxer, it was shown at the Los Angeles Motorama that year. Amid strong publicity, Tritt launched the Glasspar G-2 in 1952. The Glasspar G-2 paved the way for today's kit car industry while pioneering the use of fiberglass in automobile construction. Many cars were built by Glasspar including the Kaiser-Darrin and Woodill Wildfire.

William (Bill) Tritt founded Glasspar in 1947 with the purpose of building fiberglass boats. His background included training as a marine architect and he had worked for Douglass Aircraft during the Second World War. In 1947, he received a commission to design a racing sailboat for a friend named John Green, which he decided to construct from fiberglass.

Tritt designed what became the G-2 in 1949 as the body of a hot rod a friend was building. Fully embracing the new plastic material, by 1950, joined by two partners, he established Glasspar of Santa Anna, California. Their first car was completed in 1951, patterning it after the Jaguar XK120. Known as the Brooks Boxer, it was shown at the Los Angeles Motorama that year. A fiberglass resin manufacturer purchased one to use as a sales tool in the automotive industry.

Glasspar built approximately 100 G-2 cars through 1953 of which only 29 are known to remain in modern times. Most of the cars were sold as kits, although the factory assembled ten as complete vehicles. Glasspar became the first company to produce fiberglass cars in production quantities.

Other work completed by Glasspar included the manufacturing of Kaiser Darrins, Volvo P1900s, Woodill Wildfires, and others. The Glasspar was such a significant step in automotive history that the Smithsonian has added one to its permanent collection.