A Personal Recollection: Hank's "Sporty" Car
Hank was drafted into the army at age
18 years old. He went
through bootcamp at Fort Ord
in Northern California and spent the rest of his two year hitch as a
tank mechanic in Texas.
I'm not sure, but I think the 2 dimentional drafting part of the
development of his custom car
took place while he was in the army.
From Scale Model to Finished Fiberglass Body
After his two years were up, he moved into a house on Pepper street in
Orange, CA, a couple
houses down from where I lived with my parents. I'm not positive,
but I think he built the scale
model, shown in the photo, in the garage behind his house on Pepper
street.
The full size plaster mold from which
the female fiberglass mold was
taken was definetly built at the house
on Pepper street. The brick building in the background of the
photo of Hank and the plaster mold in the
driveway is West Orange School, the elementary school I attended while
living on Pepper street.
Motor Life Article
I think the photos featured in Motor Life (February, 1956)
magazine were taken in front of the Anaconda
Wire Company office building in Orange. As I recall, the car
wasn't finished at the time and had to be
trailered to the site for the photo shoot. I scanned the photos
from a borrowed (from my mom) copy
of the magazine several years ago. I don't know what happened to
the magazine, it wasn't with her
personal belongings I found in her mobile home after she passed
away. When I scanned the photos,
the magazine was missing the cover. I found the photos of the
magazine cover with Hank's car on
a website dealing in old magazines, and an Ebay auction. Not
knowing if I'd ever find the copy my mom
had, I bid on an Ebay auction and now have a somewhat tattered issue of
the Motor Life magazine
featuring my brother's "sporty car" on the cover with accompanying
descriptive article inside.
Finished and Fully Functional
I think Hank sold the mold after making
the
body for the car shown in the
above photos. I know at least
two "McCormack Coupes" were made but don't know if any more were made
or
what happened to the
molds. I also don't know
what happened to the original car he made for himself. I assume
when
he passed
away, his wife at that time inherited the car. As I've
had no
contact with her or know where she is, the
current condition and whereabouts of the
car is unknown to me.










Copyright © 2007, by Rich McCormack
Send comments and questions to macknet@pacbell.net
Back Home