The history of sports car is so filled with home builts that one could not possibly have heard of all of them. The west coast of North America seems to have been a hotbed for home builders who wanted to market their creation. So goes the story of the La Dawri Conquest.
From the ebay listing:
The LaDawri Conquest was designed and built by Les A. Dawes of British Columbia, Canada and is recognized as Canada’s first fiberglass sports car.
More of the story and photos after the break
The Conquest was first shown at the Pacific International Exhibition at Vancouver Canada in 1956 as the Cavalier. Original plans were to create a complete sports car for sale and distribution throughout the United States and Canada. The body itself is fiberglass and was designed to take a wheelbase of 100 to 104 inches and a tread of 56 to 58 inches. This covered Corvettes, Thunderbirds, and the like of the day. However, within a year, the car, family, and company moved to Long Beach California where production began and the car debuted on the front cover of Road and Track in July 1957. From this point forward, the car was known as the “Conquest”. LaDawri continued with car production producing both cars and kits from 1957 through 1965 when operations ceased.
Of course when I first saw it this morning, I assumed it was a converted Vette too!
Bidding ends in a few days and is currently sitting at $4938.88 which is short of the reserve. This seems to me like a really interesting bit of Canadian motoring history that just might be a blast to drive. You certainly would never see your twin at the local cruise!
From the ebay listing:
The LaDawri Conquest was designed and built by Les A. Dawes of British Columbia, Canada and is recognized as Canada’s first fiberglass sports car.
More of the story and photos after the break
The Conquest was first shown at the Pacific International Exhibition at Vancouver Canada in 1956 as the Cavalier. Original plans were to create a complete sports car for sale and distribution throughout the United States and Canada. The body itself is fiberglass and was designed to take a wheelbase of 100 to 104 inches and a tread of 56 to 58 inches. This covered Corvettes, Thunderbirds, and the like of the day. However, within a year, the car, family, and company moved to Long Beach California where production began and the car debuted on the front cover of Road and Track in July 1957. From this point forward, the car was known as the “Conquest”. LaDawri continued with car production producing both cars and kits from 1957 through 1965 when operations ceased.
Of course when I first saw it this morning, I assumed it was a converted Vette too!
Bidding ends in a few days and is currently sitting at $4938.88 which is short of the reserve. This seems to me like a really interesting bit of Canadian motoring history that just might be a blast to drive. You certainly would never see your twin at the local cruise!
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