1958 Le Mans Coupe

One of the most intriguing post-war American automotive tales has largely been forgotten. It was a car story that began in 1957 and involved publishing royalty, a design genius and grass-roots guys with imagination, ambition, and skill. But where are the cars that they built?

John Bond was the publisher of Road & Track magazine when he initiated a series of articles, in 1957, about a hypothetical American car that could be built to race at Le Mans. In this series of articles (November 1957, January 1958, February 1958, and April 1958), Bond provided a comprehensive study of the proposed car’s structure including aerodynamic and performance statistics. A parallel box-section tube frame chassis with a wheelbase of 88-inches was detailed and donor parts were outlined, including a powerful Corvette V8 engine and 4-speed manual gearbox. The proposed breathtaking shape for the body was penned and submitted by industrial design legend Strother MacMinn of Los Angeles’ Art Center School. The car was to be stunning.