What it is 128...SOLVED>>>Gaylord Gladiator

[GRAYWOLF]

[vwlarry]

That is a Gaylord Gladiator from ~1957.   

[Paul Jaray]

Is there a reliable source where the name of this car is confirmed?
Special Interest Auto has an 8-page article, never mentioning it.
The brochure of the prototype calls it simply 'Gaylord'.
A couple of books calls it 'Gentleman Coupe'.
I always knew it as Gladiator...

Bill Gilmore, member of the Society of Automobile Historians wrote:
"It's good to hear of someone interested in the incredible Gaylord Gladiator as the Gaylord car was nicknamed (note the sword used in the hood ornament as well as for instrument needles). "

[Allemano]

The first Gaylord was bodied by Spohn (pic1) and was presented in Paris 1956. There had been some conflicts between Spohn and the Gaylord brothers, so, the second Gaylord (pic2) was built at Zeppelin GmbH in Friedrichshafen/Germany. The designation 'Gladiator' is not mentioned in any of my sources.

[Paul Jaray]

Thanks Allemano...I knew that but I found the 'Gentleman's Coupe' name in a couple of sources (one is the Beaulieu) and I realized that 'Gladiator' seems to be just a nickname and not the official one.

[Carnut]

Thanks Allemano...I knew that but I found the 'Gentleman's Coupe' name in a couple of sources (one is the Beaulieu) and I realized that 'Gladiator' seems to be just a nickname and not the official one.

Isn't it just 'Gaylord Gentleman' (not Gentleman's)?

[Paul Jaray]

You are right, but that's not the point...are these names (Gladiator\Gentleman) official names?

[Carnut]

You are right, but that's not the point...are these names (Gladiator\Gentleman) official names?

I have seen it referred to as a Gaylord Gentleman Coupe for maybe 50 years, but never before as a Gladiator..
As to whether that was its official name, however, I don't know.  I assumed it was, but I'll see what I can find out about it for my own satisfaction now!

[Otto Puzzell]

You are right, but that's not the point...are these names (Gladiator\Gentleman) official names?

I believe you are right. I haven't found any period articles that call it a Gladiator or Gentleman

[grobmotorix]

Its name seems to have been not very important after just some years:

it´s been for sale in Motor Trend 4/1965, just named "Custom Roadster"...

[barrett]

That's not the same car....

[Arunas]

Its name seems to have been not very important after just some years:

it´s been for sale in Motor Trend 4/1965, just named "Custom Roadster"...

This is Jim Webb's Savage. It was initially manufactured by Savage Sports Cars Co.;  Los Angeles, California but then passed to LaDawri in 1963 and was made under the model name of Centurion 21 (also with a removable hardtop!).

Interesting fact that from LaDawri it was available only in red!

[grobmotorix]

 

I should have had a closer look, for sure.

Right you are, of course.

This is why I love autopuzzles.com.

There´s no other place where you´d be corrected only within minutes by experts like you.

Thank you and excuse the blunder...

[Loren Lundberg]

    As an update on the Gaylord, the museum in Florida is now closed.  Before it closed, Jim Gaylord reacquired the car and the chassis, put each through a "restoration" process and showed it at Pebble Beach as part of a special class (year?).
     Mr. Gaylord is now deceased and the best information I have is that his widow still owns the car and the chassis.
     "Gladiator" was an early proposal for a name and it does appear in the gauges with the sword.  Mr Gaylord later referred to the car as a "Gaylord Sports Touring" and it is now off the MSO and titled in Arizona as a 1958 Gaylord.

[Paul Jaray]

Wow, thank you for explainig that...
I hope to se the car around more often!

[RayTheRat]

    As an update on the Gaylord, the museum in Florida is now closed.  Before it closed, Jim Gaylord reacquired the car and the chassis, put each through a "restoration" process and showed it at Pebble Beach as part of a special class (year?).
     Mr. Gaylord is now deceased and the best information I have is that his widow still owns the car and the chassis.
     "Gladiator" was an early proposal for a name and it does appear in the gauges with the sword.  Mr Gaylord later referred to the car as a "Gaylord Sports Touring" and it is now off the MSO and titled in Arizona as a 1958 Gaylord.

Which one?  The Spohn or the Zeppelin?

RtR

[Loren Lundberg]

    The Spohn car was destroyed upon its return from the New York Auto Show, due to a German decision
that it was now subject to "import duties".  The Zeppelin version with different front fenders, headlights,
etc. is what was titled in AZ from the original "Manufacuter's Statement of Origin".  I have NOT had any recent contact with Mrs. Gaylord.

[grobmotorix]

An old German 1956 original press photo featuring the debut of the Gaylord at New York´s Coliseum:

[pnegyesi]

The Zeppelin car is now in the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, where yours truly was a visitor today. They have an incredible treasure trove of documents, photos, drawings related to this car and to Spohn.

[grobmotorix]

I need to go there one day...

[Arunas]

Here's original brochure from my archive:

[grobmotorix]

 

[Wendax]

Some more pictures: