''The Mantaray'' is a show rod built in 1963 by

Dean Jeffries Edward Dean Jeffries (February 25, 1933 – May 5, 2013) was an American custom car designer and fabricator, as well as stuntman and stunt coordinator for motion pictures and television programs based in Los Angeles, California. Early life Je ...

. The car won Best Experimental in its debut at the 1964 Pomona car show (at the Winternationals) and the special constructor's award, top non-roadster prize, at the 1964

Oakland Roadster Show The Grand National Roadster Show (a.k.a.: GNRS, or sometimes referred to as ''Oakland Roadster Show'' but never officially called that), started in 1950, and is one of the oldest and longest continuously operating exhibitions of custom vehicles in t ...

. It also appeared on " The Tonight Show" with Steve Allen and in '' Bikini Beach''.

Construction details

Based on a pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

racing car, it had a wire-mesh "cage" with the body laid over the bare

space frame In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...

, with air intakes in the rear quarter panels ahead of the wheels. The car had open wheels and exposed

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

velocity stack A velocity stack, '' 'trumpet, or air horn, is a trumpet-shaped device of differing lengths which is fitted to the air entry of an engine's intake system, carburetor or fuel injection. It is unrelated to the noise maker or signaling air horn. ...

s, as well as exposed distributor. It was painted white. It had lakes pipes. Like a number of other show rods at the time, including ''Silhouette'', it had a bubble canopy.

History

''Mantaray'' began as a gift from Jeffries' father: a pre-

racing car. Jeffries built a wire-mesh "cage" and laid the body over the bare

. After the car was completed, it won the Best Experimental car award at the 1964 Pomona car show (at the Winternationals). It then won the special constructor's award, top prize for a non-roadster, at the 1964

. It also appeared on Steve Allen's " The Tonight Show", which led to the producers of '' Bikini Beach'' using it in their film. Though customs such as ''Ala Kart'' and the

Hirohata Merc The Hirohata Merc is a 1950s custom car, often called "the most famous custom of the classic era". Setting a style and an attitude, it had a "momentous effect" on custom car builders, appeared in several magazines at the timeDeWitt, p.70 and has re ...

had appeared in film before, ''Mantaray'' was the first to get appreciable time on screen. (A decade later, Pete Chapouris' ''California Kid'' would have a starring role.) Following its use in the film, ''Mantaray'' was sent for measuring by

AMT Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

, for a prospective model kit.

References

Modified vehicles Automotive styling features Maserati vehicles 1960s cars Kustom Kulture Individual cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles History of California {{auto-stub