Description of the build in The Evening Independent

The local Massillon paper, The Evening Independent, interviewed Shoemaker and described the work required to turn his vision into a fully functioning car. (February 21, 1958)

Steering Wheel From an Early VW Beetle?

The dash is in reasonable shape -- only missing the tachometer. But the steering wheel is a little rough, and is starting to flake apart (delaminate?) over time and exposure to the elements.

Based on the other components making up the car, I assumed the wheel was a Ford or a Mercury, possibly from an early T-Bird. But, when I started looking to identify the wheel, I got a surprise. The guys at Pearlcraft (a steering wheel restoration company in Australia) identified it as coming from a VW, then Koch's and Wolfsburg West confirmed that it was from a 1956-1959 Beetle/Karmann Ghia.

Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? Take a late 40's to early 50's Ford chassis, add a Mercury Flathead, direct the power through a T-Bird shift with overdrive, populate the dash with Stewart Warner instruments, then add a wheel taken from a late 50's Volkswagen. I'd say that it was starting to sound like a junkyard special -- but most of these parts were almost new when the car was built.

When it was new

Most of the photos are black and white -- but the one color image shows that the car was painted gold.

This seems to explain the gold paint on the steel wheels. (The car had Dayton Wire Wheels, but the back-up steel wheels appear to have been painted to match the body.)

Competition History?

It's hard to tell if the car was used "competitively" when it was new. (None of the original images included safety equipment -- no rollbar, competition belts, etc.) And the only images of the engine seem to indicate it was a stock Mercury Flathead.

However, this photo seems to show the car lined up at a rally checkpoint, or at the base of a hillclimb.

Ben Shoemaker (designer/builder) was an active member of the Tuscarawas Valley Touring Club. Unfortunately, the TVTC has since disbanded -- but I hope to find someone who may remember Shoemaker or this car.

Changing hands in the late-80s

The car was bought in the late 80's as a wedding gift by a woman for her fiance in Connecticut. Based on the "story" that followed the car, it was assumed to be a 1956 Devin SS with history as a SCCA race car.

The marriage didn't last -- but the car did -- staying in storage until early 2011.

Meet the builder

Upon his discharge from service following the Korean war, Ben Shoemaker resumed his floor covering business. But he began to "dabble" in the relatively new fiberglass manufacturing business.

One of his first efforts may have been the design and construction of this car, the Shoemaker Ford Special. According to a 1967 trade publication, Speed & Custom Dealer, Shoemaker built his first fiberglass car from the components of a 1951 Ford. While the article, unfortunately, didn't include any images of this first car, it did go on to say that about 40 bodies were taken from the mold -- and that as late as 1967, Fiberglass Unlinited (Shoemaker's company) was producing an average of six of these bodies each year. (Surprisingly, no other examples of this body style have turned up.)

Most of Shoemaker's fiberglass projects were "one-off" designs, and, until 1960, his fiberglass work was done after hours, while he maintained his floor covering business.

In 1960 he and a partner formed a business to make fiberglass church steeples and observatory roofs. The partnership was short-lived, but it convinced Shoemaker to leave the floor covering business and to pursue fiberglass work full-time.

In 1963 he supplied bodies for the Bobsy Vanguard Formula Vee, a design competing in the SCCA's newly-approved Formula V racing class. Some time later, Shoemaker designed and built bodies for the Bobsy SR3 racer.

Shoemaker continued his fiberglass work up until at least 2001. Officials of the National One Design (sailboat) Racing Association indicate that Fiberglass Unlimited made "many" hulls from their design through the 90's and until 2001.

For sale in the early 60's

The car was listed for sale in a variety of enthusiast publications in 1960 and 1961. The description was consistent with the current car.

Car and Driver -- September, 1961

Hotrod -- September, 1961

Road & Track -- August 1960

Motor Trend -- September 1961