Undiscovered Classics
1956 Bangert Manta Ray
1956 Bangert Manta Ray
1956 Bangert Manta Ray
Born in 1931, Noel Bangert had a penchant for design – and people noticed. Upon graduation from high school he had planned to go into the ministry, but in his early twenties he changed direction to his other passion – car design.
In the early 1950s, designing your own sports car was all the rage. Magazines showed how to use fiberglass to build bodies and books promoted how to take a concept from two dimensions to full-size prototypes. And believe it or not – people did it. John Bond, owner of Road & Track magazine in the 1950s was quoted as saying that nearly 1,000 or perhaps more hand-built low-production “specials” were constructed in America during that time.
Few Bangert sports cars exist today. No examples of the Bangert Stag have been found and just four examples of his Manta Ray are known to exist. Two of these are race cars and two are sports cars. As for the third and final sports car that Bangert designed and released to the public, that’s for a future story which we’re looking forward to sharing with you soon.
1962 Shark Roadster
1956 Bangert Manta Ray
1956 Bangert Manta Ray
Industrial designer Henry Covington, of St. Petersburg, Florida, set forth to build a car based on the aerodynamic principles of Dr. Augustus Raspet - a noted aerodynamicist. Covington collaborated with fiberglass expert Glenn Gums of Glenn Industries to build his prototype. Six coupes were produced by Caccicraft of Tampa, Florida. Sadly, Henry Covington passed away in May, 1962, and production of the coupes ceased. Glenn Gums moved ahead producing the Tiburon, but with several modifications. He changed the coupe body into a roadster, added doors, and exposed the headlights. Six roadsters were produced between 1962 thru 1965. Both the Tiburon coupe and roadster were designed to take full advantage of contemporary aerodynamic knowledge, and included a belly pan nearly as large as the car. Ultimately, this design led Road & Track magazine in 1966 to recognize Henry Covington’s Tiburon sports car as the most streamlined car in the world.
Tampa Bay Auto Museum
1927 Voisin C7 Chastness
Voisins were known for their unique body styling done by Gabriel Voisin. These vehicles make use of lightweight materials like aluminum and light alloys. The engine is a 4-cylinder, 1551cc Knight Sleeve Valve Engine. The engine is virtually silent.
Paint and interior done at Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. Vehicle still has the original waxed fabric on the body from 1927. Excellently maintained over the years.