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The Victress Sports Car, Gone Though Not Quite Forgotten

Filed in archive American Specials by Philip Powell on March 03, 2007

Victress Sports Car

Back in the carefree days of the 50's anyone with mechanical talents, a little cash, and a custom fiberglasslinks body, could build his own hot rod or sports car. A number of bodymakers catered to this hobby, some more successfully than others. I must confess I'd never heard of the "Victress" until Nigel told me of a friend in Kelowna, BC who has one. A little research showed that two Victress series were launched during its brief life: the S-4, intended mostly for Ford frames and adaptable for wheelbases ranging from 112-116", and a wind tunnel-developed S-5 for MG TC, TD and TF frames.

A Victress S-5 featured in the 1954 movie "Johnny Dark," starring Tony Curtis and Piper Laurie, based on a mythical Canada-to-Mexico road race. Curtis drove an S-5 to win first prize: the beautiful granddaughter of his boss. In 1957 a Victress appeared on the cover of Road & Track magazine, a noteable endorsement for a "special" during those colorful years. In 1961 the Victress moulds were acquired by LaDawri, a company begun by Les Dawes in Vancouver BC and later based in California. With a number of photos plus reproductions of period magazine articles, the LaDawri Web site offers a fascinating glimpse of a period when creativity flourished.

(Note: Viewer Doug Bell offers a correction: "In the movie 'Johnny Dark' Tony Curtis did not drive a Victress, but a Woody Woodhill Wildfire, currently in a museum in Idaho." Thanks, Doug. I'm not going to dispute that one. I've never seen the movie... in fact never heard of it until I began researching the Victress.)






Permalink: The Victress Sports Car, Gone Though Not Quite Forgotten
Tags: Victress  LaDawri  MG  Fordsports  classic  vintage  antique  collector  old  car  cars  auto  automotive  automo 

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