PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM

Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.

- GARY AXON

In 1949, Californian boat-builder Bill Tritt created the Glasspar G2, a sports car with the world's first 'production' automotive body made from a new wonder material: glass-reinforced plastic-aka glassfibre, or GRP. A oneoff, glassfibre-bodied Stout Scarab prototype had predated Tritt's G2 by three years, while Ford had studied soya-based coachwork materials during WW2. But it was the Glasspar that kick-started the GRP car-body boom, and it quickly became the material of choice for countless low-volume car makers.

Some larger manufacturers were quick to catch on, with Kaiser and Chevrolet revealing glassfibre-bodied prototypes as early as 1952; their respective sporting Darrin and Corvette models were in production soon after. Massmarket European marques followed suit.

Plastic bodyshells would form the backbone of the kit and Specials industry, and they spread into the mainstream with car makers large and small selling GRP-bodied models, from Reliant Robins through to the Renault Espace. By the '60s, even BMC, Panhard and BMW used it to ease localised production in emerging markets.

Glassfibre remains the favoured material for many specialist sports cars today, although it has fallen from favour among the mass-market manufacturers. Here are 10 unexpected GRP cars, produced by makers better known for employing more traditional materials.

1 Citroën Bijou 1959-64

Encouraged by its success since UK production began in Slough in 1925, from 1954 Citroën GB began the local assembly of 2CVs, tailoring the model closer to British tastes with plusher trim and chrome bumpers.

The unconventional 2CV failed to find favour with conservative Brits, though, so, to use up the spare chassis and engines, the unique-to-Slough Bijou was launched at the 1959 Earls Court Motor Show to appeal more to local sensibilities.