jpage Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Back in the late 1970's there was a company that was reproducing steel 1932 Chevy roadster bodies and fenders. They seemed to dissappear. Did GM shut them down or are they still in business? Just curious,I was impressed by the parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 GM didn't shut them down, the demand for 32 Chevy bodies was just not there, compared to demand for 32 Ford bodies....think it was called Experimental Metal, maybe I'm thinking of another company though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I saw an article also back in the late '60s about the Camaro and a 1932 Chevy roadster that interchanged parts. I wish I could remember the magazine it was in. The body from the '32 fit on the Camaro chassis, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Since Camaros didn't have a chassis, just a front subframe, I doubt it was made.There was a commercial that had Camaro and '32 Chev body panels magically transfered, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Since Camaros didn't have a chassis, just a front subframe, I doubt it was made.There was a commercial that had Camaro and '32 Chev body panels magically transfered,It was definitely a Camaro and a 1932 Chevy with interchanging parts.....NOT a commercial. It was either "Cars and Parts" or a hotrod magazine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) Here you go......It was in "Rod and Custom" magazine, August 1968. Look at the bottom of the magazine cover. There was a whole article on it. Edited February 13, 2012 by keiser31 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 By AMT? Isn't that a plastic model kit company, as in 1/24 scale or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 By AMT? Isn't that a plastic model kit company, as in 1/24 scale or so?No. It was a full size car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpage Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 (edited) The unit that I saw at Hershey was an almost exact replica of a stock car. They also had a reproduction frame for it. They had one assembled as stock and it was very impressive. They had fenders , grille shell,hood and grille insert, and top irons along with bumper brackets and bumpers. I don't think that it was ever intended to be a Camaro retrofit. The assembled body looked similar to the new repro bodies available for the Model A Fords. I thought that license issues finally caught up with them as the bid guys started putting on the pressure around this time. Maybe Trimacar is right,not enough interest! Edited February 15, 2012 by jpage (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coley Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The name of the makers of the all steel '32 Chevy was "Experimetal" as I remember.There was also a fellow from Peoria Illinois that was working on making the same car in metal, but never heard from him again.Gm got real heavy on reproduction parts about 12 years ago or so.They would show up at swap meets with a state police officer and another legal rep to check out the parts you were selling.A friend that sold 1955/56/57 parts was told to remove any reference to GM, Chevy or other trademark names from his checks, his trailer and his advertising from his store or face stiff fines.I inquired about reproducing 1933 to 1938 Chevy tail light stands and emblems etc, and was told that as long as I sold them as reproduction items, they didn't care. That was in the early '70s.Now that has changed as they want 10% or more of your sales of anything you reproduce (with part numbers or trademark names). Plus they want to sell you a license to sell your parts after they judge them to be GM quality.GM even came after a friend that was making couches out of the rear ends of old Chevies.Since he was using old car parts and old trim, they couldn't do much about it.They have no control over what you do with an old GM car. Otherwise, customizers would be illegal.I changed my shop name to Chevi Shop to keep out of their way.I can make any part now except trademark nameplates, or parts with a GM part number inside.Seems strange that GM would worry about a small shop making something that would help a restorer bring another old Chevy etc. back to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 It's Experi-Metal in Sterling Heights, here's their website, and if you can believe the site, they can still make you a '32 Chevy roadster body....Body in White (BIW) | Experi-Metal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenugent Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 the caption said-by gene winfield-if he built it the car had to be correct.he was one of the best customizers of the 50s-60s-70s- isaw him on one of the car shows on tv this year.he was a metal fabricater-painter-pinstripper-master of all.winner of the oakland roadster show-the original builder of the monkeys mobile.a true legend in the custom buisness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenugent Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 dean jefrees built the monkeymobile-sorry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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