1947 Norman Timbs Special
This is one of those cars you just can’t stop looking at because it is just so darn strange, unusual and beautiful. We think of two seat sports cars as being small and usually having a short deck and long front end. We also think a mid-engine car should be exotic and made for high speed racing. This car is both of those things but has none of those attributes.
It is a straight 8 Buick powered mid-engine car; the engine sits directly behind the two passenger seat. There are no doors or trunk. The entire car consists of only two pieces; the front and the back.
This is the 1947 Norman Timbs Special. Designed by mechanical engineer Norm Timbs. It is smooth streamlined two seater. Timbs designed the car on paper, went to quarter-sized clay models and finally a wood buck was built upon which the aluminum body panels were constructed. Construction took two and a half years at a cost of $10,000 (1947 dollars!).
The car is currently owned by the Cerveny Family Collection in Malibu CA.
We first saw this car at the Concours d’Elegance in Amelia Island but most recently it was part of the Concept Car Collection on display at the Atlanta GA High Museum of Art. Photos of both locations are included in this article.
It was the cover car of the October 1949 Motor Trend Magazine.
The car has obviously been completely restored and is likely in better condition than when Timbs constructed it but what did it look like prior to restoration? Check out our next image.
Would you have purchased this car, done the research and restored it if you had found it sitting in a desert junk yard?
