Fiberfab. An international success

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Purchasing classics there

As a child we drew cars. As teenagers, we dreamed about building the ultimate car. But a few of us went further. That was made 'easy' by using existing undercarriages and engines. And fiberglass reinforced polyester. And there were also people who took the bag seriously.

Fiberfab (founded in 1964) was an American manufacturer

The company started manufacturing accessories and body parts. Later they developed kit cars and fully assembled cars. Fiberfab was one of the longest-established kitcar manufacturers. The company also had offices abroad, including those in Germany.

Banshee / Caribee: What's in a name?

In the mid-1964s, Fiberfab developed a car called Banshee. The sports car was designed by Russell and Chris Beebe. During the development of the car, General Motors (GM) approached Goodwin and bought the Banshee name from him. GM would use the name for their Pontiac Banshee line of concept cars, starting in XNUMX. The Fiberfab car was renamed the Caribee.

The Banshee / Caribee had gull-wing doors and styling compared to a Shelby Daytona coupé. The body is designed to be mounted on various front engine chassis including van Triumph, MG and Austin-Healey.

Twelve copies of the car were built.

The Bonito was the German Fiberfab

A European Fiberfab branch was established in Germany in 1966.

Some European texts from the time the German branch was founded called the name 'Fiberfab Europe'. That was also the name under which an Aztec was shown at the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung in 1969.

Fiberfab-Karosserie began to develop their own models, including two Ford GT look-a-like cars, the FT Bonito and the Bonanza. In 1973, the German company cut ties with American Fiberfab and began making a light commercial vehicle, the Sherpa. Fiberfab GmbH continued to make FT Bonitos until 1981, when they sold the rights to a British company, ACM.

Bonanza GT

The Bonanza GT was a two-door grand touring fastback built by Fiberfab-Karosserie from 1967 to 1971. Instead of being based on a Beetle platform, the Bonanza GT used the chassis and engine of a Volkswagen Type 3. According to the books 49 have been made ...

FT Bonito

The FT Bonito was introduced in 1969 and production continued until 1980.

Unlike the Bonanza GT, the FT Bonito was based on the VW Type 1 chassis and the standing fan. While the FT Bonito's nose resembled the American Fiberfab Avenger GTs, itself a reinterpretation of the Ford GT40s, the German car had a larger, lighter cabin and smaller, less domed rear fenders and side panels.

Other donor parts were from different European models. The windshield was from a Ford Taunus 12M. The headlights were from a Ford Taunus 15M and the rear lights were from a Karmann Ghia Type 34. Other parts, including door handles, windshield wipers, bumpers, and various pieces of interior trim came from brands such as Audi, Opel, Mercedes-Benz and NSU.

An estimated one thousand two hundred copies were made.

Fiberfab also successfully made Porsche Speedster copies and AC Cobra kits.

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10 comments

  1. ich finde, dass der fiberfab bonanza gt ein gelungenes auto ist. emptlich die wahl der scheinwerfer und der rückleuchten war seinerzeit nicht gelungen, aber topaktuell. oft nahm man die zu kleinen rückleuchten vom fiat 850 coupé, die des opel gt, or die des bmw 02. angenehmer sahen die rückleuchten des vw typ 34 daran aus.
    für meinen bonanza gt habe ich rückleuchten vom lamborghini miura 1. series/fiat 850 spider genommen. diese passes mit ihren abrundungen aussen gut zum verlauf des hecks. als scheinwerfer habe ich anstelle die des ford 15 m p6 zwei rundscheinwerfer vom vw 411/412 taken.

  2. The name ”Banshee” was later used by Yamaha, for their Quad, with the -2-cylinder ”race block” from a Yamaha RD.350.LC !!! …
    Went "like a bullet", now also collector items, with "Sky-High" prizes.
    Find nice videos of the on ”You-Tube”.

  3. I have always really liked the FT Bonito. Some people were condescending about it, the poor man Ferrari, but what about that? As long as you enjoy it, it's okay.

    I did notice that owners of an FT Bonito were refused on VW tours while the Ruska Buggies were allowed to participate, which was then dismissed as “Ruska is a serious manufacturer”. As if Fiberfab only employed infants.

    The quality of course depended on the base chassis and on the time and effort taken to build it. For the former, the VW 1303 S / LS with 50 hp was of course the most suitable, an engine that could also be tickled a bit. And what if, with the 1973 oil crisis, the maximum speed limit was reduced to 100 km / h nationwide. The FT Bonito ran with about 1600 engine 160.

    The car was delivered in wooden boxes and with a thick book of how everything should be screwed together. Anyone who worked quickly and carelessly got a creepy jumble with squeaking and creaking noises, badly closing doors and flaps and paint that quickly peeled off. But those who did well could have a lot of fun with his plastic fantastic racing monster.

  4. Nice article!
    The kitcar legacy is a lot of fun and especially if they are on Dutch license plates. So different from your normal car. And so much fun that you can drive a “wannahave” - or fantasy car from that time. Because even now the real copies are still priceless and / or unreachable.

  5. Wonderful story!
    I am a builder and owner of a Bonito and I enjoy it a lot.
    At the moment there are about 25 copies that are still in use.
    There is an active Bonito Club Holland (BCH)
    Partly due to corona, we see quite a few more enthusiasts who pull one out of a shed (Barnfind)
    The Bonito Club tries to help with the often young builders who try to get such a Bo back on the road
    You will also find the FT Bonito on Wiki.

  6. Beautiful these kitcars. I have found another letter from the competitor after my request for info from 1981 with the price list and extra required parts from Nova import Netherlands, located at the second Keucheniusstraat 18a in Amsterdam:
    Griffin Kit / ready: 9700, - / 17600, -
    Madison roadster kit / ready: 7900, - / 13900, -
    Nova GT kit / ready 9700, - / 20200, - (electro hydraulic hood 1622, -
    Spartan basic kit 5950, -
    Spartan 1300 built 17800, -
    Talon kit 8950, -
    MG TF replica kit 5950, -
    TF replica built 1300cc 17800, -
    Prices in Dutch Florins

    The Bonito is unfortunately not listed, was my favorite next to the Custos Hurricane.
    At the time, I was very interested in these types of cars that contrasted strongly with the ugly square eighties cars in terms of design, unfortunately too little money then

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