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Yes, the owner and his workers drove the cars from the factory in Buffalo to prospective dealers around the country in the hopes of gaining financial support, popularity, and buyers. There's a list of all the original cars, their colors, and what state they went to, out on the internet somewhere. That's how I knew mine originally went to Maryland, and the color was a beige/tan (but we'll talk about the color when I get to the body work section of this thread). The factory brochure says it's "the nation's new car sensation".

I've finally receive the carburetor rebuild kit from Mike's Carburetors and rebuilt the carb. It was surprisingly clean and not gummed up at all. Maybe 1948 gas didn't turn into goo when it dried.

Also, the car has a clear title. The car is located in Florida, 25 minutes from Tampa.

More pictures, also the original engine....

More pictures...

Something very strange happened to Allantes since 1990, they're value went down the drain. I've been looking for a two seat convertible for my wife for sunny weekend days and have noticed that you can buy a beautiful Allante all over the country for as little as $1000. None of them are molested too, because they never became tuner projects for kids or high mile daily drivers. All the Allantes I saw for sale were elderly owned, garaged their whole life, and sat more than they were driven. Even junkyards around the country have Allantes that are in beautiful condition. Some similar cars I was looking at for my wife were the Maserati TC (hard and soft top convertible), and the Mercedes SLK (automatic hard top convertible). We ended up buying an SLK because I found a very rare Designo model for sale, it was also very close to my house. I've had two Maserati TC's in the past and they are very nice cars, but the Allante was in a close second place because they're beautiful cars.

Ya, I really hate when people chop up a classic car for their own amusement. Those cars are usually found in the junkyard a year later. A few weeks ago I saw someone selling the original engine and interior from their original barn find 1957 Thunderbird so they could put a jeep engine into it. A few years ago someone on this forum was parting out a supercharged Graham Sharknose so he could chop the top, lower it, and put it on a chevy chassis. Poor rare car, I'll bet the car got crushed for junk after the owner was done getting his jollies.

Funny, that maroon Playboy has alot of differences from mine. I've heard that since they were all "prototypes" then body parts won't fit from one car to another. The Playboy I've listed for sale in the sale sub-forum has a different front end than mine (not counting the GMC Jimmy modification).

What category in this website would a story about gas stations go? I don't want to get in hot water with the web policeman by putting the story in the wrong sub-forum.

Hmm, I wonder if that magazine article from 1974 is floating around on the internet somewhere.

Hi All, I agree, it's too bad what happened to this car. I'm selling it for the current owner. I have, however, seen cars in worse condition get restored back to stock. So although it's not impossible, it would cost alot unless all the work was done by the buyer himself. All in all, I think it should be saved. I've advised the seller to sell it whole and not for parts. I would love to have the trunk lid but if you look closely at all the cars, not only are the components of the cars different (heater, carburetor, brightwork trim, etc), but also the body panels. For example, the headlight area of this car is kind of snub-nosed, my car is more rounded in that area... Regarding the doors, the owner has two extra doors, and they're the doors that came off of my car!

The last Playboy that was sold went for $132,000 at Sothebys, the selling price for this car is $10,000.

More pictures...

More pictures...

1948 Playboy model A-48, one of 97 made, 55 in existence today. Search Playboy cars on the internet for more information on the company. This particular car was modified and put on a GMC Jimmy frame. Comes with all the original parts taken off the car including the suspension, motor, interior, heater, transmission, radiator, and original battery. Located in Florida, seller will assist with loading up on your shipping truck. This car needs to be restored back to original.

How about some pictures so we can oggle at it.

Carburetor and air filter. The carb is a Carter model W-O which was used on Willy's jeeps in 1948.

Hmm, I didn't think anyone would be interested in an old gas station sitting in a junkyard... I just posted the pictures for kicks. I'm an architect and really think that it should be saved; that's why I felt compelled to take pictures of it when I saw it. In fact, I know of two other gas stations that may be for sale that are almost identical to this one. As the years go by, all three of them are deteriorating, and one is getting vandalized because homeless people are staying in it and the front door is open. I wish someone would save them but I don't think there's a market for 1930's-40's Americana filling stations... I wonder why no one asked for more info about Flava Flav... 😁

Yes, funny, The Hemmings story pretty much put Playboy on the map with car enthusiasts, and brought the car from complete obscurity out to the public eye. Regarding the history, I'm hoping that this thread will generate some memories from old-timers who will contact me and say that they saw the car in 1956 rolling down some country road in Maryland with three people in it (one of the original selling points of this car is that they said it was a three-seater)... I'm in contact with all the previous known owners too, which is nice... Regarding the doors and trunk lid, I'll talk more about them later in this thread....

Thanks! Actually I don't think this is too bad. It's a very simple car, no luxuries, just bare bones.. The nice thing is that it's almost complete and the motor has never been molested. The original paint is still on all the nuts and bolts... If you want to see a major undertaking, ask me about my well famed 1970 Boss 302 project car that was all over the internet a few years ago.. It's so rusted out that I've left it on the trailer for three years because I'm afraid that it will break in half if I move it... Regarding parts, that's another subject I'm going to go over later in this thread....

Thanks! You''re probably one of 200 people in the world who even know what this car is.. I've never even heard of them until this past March when I was walking past a vendor table at a local car parts swap meet. The "for sale" sign was taped to the front of the table with a small thumbnail picture. I had to do a double-take to figure out what kind of car this was...

Oil pan and flywheel...

And now a quick break for something totally unrelated.... A 1948 gas station for sale in a Colorado architectural scrap yard...

Water pump clutch, fan, and pulleys...

Autolite spark plugs... They look newer but the auto parts store doesn't sell them, so they may not be original but they are old.