1951 Almquist H-Mod

Almquist Engineering was founded by Ed Almquist, who was one of the most famous individuals in the history of hot rodding. The Almquist catalogs were filled with custom accessories and performance parts. Along with performance parts, Ed also made a line of fiberglass kit car bodies after purchasing a stock of fiberglass bodies from Clearfield Plastics. The Clearfield Plastics Company had made fiberglass sports car bodies to fit on the Fiat Topolino or a Crosley chassis. The production manager at Clearfield, Harry Heim, would later design the Almquist bodies.

The first Almquist vehicles were called the Sabre I and rested on a 124-inch long platform and clothed with a European-inspired roadster body. They could accommodate a wheelbase size of 72 to 82 inches. These compact cars with a very short wheelbase had deep side coves and a bobbed nose. Both as a styling element and as a means for allowing hot air to escape from the brakes, the front fenders were raked in behind the front wheels. In the front was a grille or fender-mounted headlights - an option selected by the buyer.

The Sabre II followed the Sabre I and had a very similar design with a 134-inch length. It could accommodate chassis sizes of 82 to 92 inches. Both the Sabre I and Sabre II were priced at $295.

The Almquist bodies were lightweight, built to high standards, and reinforced with metal, and featured molded-in dash panels.

In 1966, Ed Almquist sold the company. By this point in history, the popularity of the fiberglass bodies had faded. Nevertheless, the Almquist bodies were a popular kit car body during the mid-1950s and early 1960s.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2011