The 1958 MacMinn LeMans Coupe is a automotive that even essentially the most dedicated of automotive guys and gals may struggle to discover.
That is because only a handful were built in the course of the Nineteen Fifties and so they ended up either wrecked in accidents or later dismantled.
The version featured in the most recent episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage” is just original so far as its fiberglass body is worried. The body was left to rot in a field for many years until it was finally acquired by amateur builder Dennis Kazmerowski, who along with close friend Alan Fudge rebuilt the automotive using original instructions published in Road & Track.
The MacMinn LeMans Coupe wasn’t a daily production automotive but the results of an idea from John Bond, who within the Nineteen Fifties was the publisher of Road & Track. His idea was for an American-designed automotive that would win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and to be assembled using easy to source parts.
Due to his engineering background, Bond was in a position to design a chassis, details of which were documented in articles in Road & Track starting in 1957. He still needed a designer for the body, and that task went to Strother MacMinn, who on the time was head of design at the celebrated ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. MacMinn was also a friend of Jay Leno and would recurrently hang around on the funny man’s garage.
Key features of the MacMinn LeMans Coupe include a longtail design, gullwing doors, and a V-8 powertrain. And the automotive’s shape, while appearing prefer it desires to slip through the air, was never aerodynamically tested.
Bond and MacMinn didn’t construct any of the cars themselves. The challenge was left to readers, several of whom stepped as much as the plate. In keeping with Undiscovered Classics, which has documented the history of the automotive and its various builds, three cars were accomplished after the design was published in Road & Track, and two got to a partial-build stage. Now Kazmerowski’s automotive may be added to the list.
This Article First Appeared At www.motorauthority.com
