1954 Victress C2

The Southern California-based body maker, the Victress Manufacturing Company, was founded in 1951. They produced unfinished body shells and offered a simple frame manufactured by Mameco Corp. in Los Angeles. Founded by Merrill Powell and former UCLA engineering student named William 'Doc' Boyce-Smith, the company intended to bring European sports car design to America. Boyce-Smith's experience and expertise included fiberglass construction and circle track racing. Powell served as the company's chief of design. The duo was joined by Bill Powel (of no relation to Merrill) who served as the company's production manager.

The early creation was dubbed the S1 and its body was fine-tuned with wind tunnel testing. One example was fitted with a Chrysler powerplant and driven at the Bonneville Salt Flats where it achieved a top speed of 203.105 mph. There were around six body styles to choose from, which could fit wheelbases ranging from 94 to 118 inches. The S-5 was a small roadster version of the S-1A and could accommodate 94-inch wheelbases. By 1961, the company had gained many government contracts and had moved away from the sports car business. They sold their interests to LaDawri.

The fiberglass-bodied Victress C2 was originally designed to cover MG's, Volkswagens, Healeys, and other small foreign cars. Around 50 examples of the C2 and the C3 were built which has made them very rare in modern times. The C2 had been introduced in 1954 with the C3 following a year later. After Victress sold their fiberglass designs to La Dawri, the design was refined, resulting in as many as three times as many coupes produced.

Merrill Powell, a design student, joined Victress in 1954 after acquiring 49 percent of the company. Powell designed the C2 and the C3. Less than 40 Victress coupes were made and sold in the 1950s.

Only a few of the original C2 Coupes are known to exist.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2018