Perhaps We Could Interest You in a Plywood Racecar?


So it looks a little like a Shelby Daytona Coupe that was shrunk in the wash, and its chassis is made out of plywood. Instead of being a miserable, abject failure consigned to the dustbin of history, the Marcos GT Fastback is a legitimately successful racecar, and this particular GT is one of only 7 works cars built and is claimed to be all original.


Lest you think the Marcos succeeded despite the cellulose-intensive structure, the idea was cribbed from the DeHaviland Mosquito and proved to be sort of a contemporary carbon fiber-esque substance, making the lightest Marcos GTs tip the scales at just over 1,000 lbs.! (Note the clever license plate attached to the nose of the car above.) Powered by a Ford 1100cc unit (instead of the more iconic and less probably 1800cc Volvo engine), backed up by a Hewland 5-speed with an LSD, we have no doubt that it would be competitive in its respective historic racing class. Plus at least from the front, it looks pretty awesome (which is becoming sort of a trend … remember the Ecurie Ecosse Tojeiro-Buick, with the Jessica Alba front and the Rosanne Bar rear?). Listed on race-cars.com for about $80,000 (65,000 euros), it seems like a relative deal for a rare (1 of 7 extant, only 2 running) works car with a lot of character. Would you get freaky with the wooden wonder, or beg off for fear of splinters?
race-cars.com

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  1. bill Avatar
    bill

    <hops into his mahindra pickup truck, drives to home deopt to pick up some plywood>

    <wakes up>

    🙁

  2. Thrashy Avatar

    Hrrm, I going to have to think on this one. Yes, or Very Yes?

  3. nofrillls Avatar

    Need pics of the "plywood chassis". Then, I will need some lighter fluid.

  4. vwminispeedster Avatar
    vwminispeedster

    The license plate in the old photo is perfect.

  5. FЯeeMan Avatar

    I'm scratching my head. My son said, "Ooof".
    What is that beast?

  6. FЯeeMan Avatar

    Wow! You should really go check out their web-site.
    I say bravo to the old guys who are reviving the marque for the third time!

  7. Van Sarockin Avatar
    Van Sarockin

    Lot of spirit in Marcos. Probably a very fair price for the car. Nothing inherently wrong about a plywood monocoque, so long as it was properly engineered and fabricated. I'm thinking you could do a fantastic Veyron body using the West system of laminated mahogany strips. As for that Tojiero-Buick, it's simply a matter of baby having a Kamm-back.

  8. woodworm Avatar
    woodworm

    Shelby´s Daytona coupe appeared first in late 1964, the Marcos Fastback raced internationally already in 1963.
    The power came from the 1000cc Ford Angia engines, normally prepared by Cosworth. In the GT and Prototype class in those days, the class limit was at 1100cc, so most cars were uprated to this and prooved to be very competitive. thanks to the ingenious plywood chassis , which was very light and very strong, the early Marcos had an overall weight of less than 500kg and were able to beat the Abarths.
    by the way:
    most of the plywood marcos still have their first chassis, and if the car isn´t stored in a muddy sump, the epoxy-glued-plywood will last for centuries .

  9. Aimee Derry Avatar

    This article is really amazing. Thank you for sharing that you are the wealth of knowledge with us once more. No wonder your blog does so well. Your site is very well designed, graphically impressive and full of good advice. Kudos.

  10. Elwood Pastrano Avatar

    I totally agree with your blog post oppinion.this very encouraging for people who want to know these subjects.

  11. mctriplek Avatar
    mctriplek

    Nice Post ! I sell plywood in indonesia. See my site here Harga Triplek . Thanks.