The $ 1,000 Car

In 1946 William Hewson was owner of the car trade company Hewson Pacific Corp. based in Los Angeles. He planned to capture the market for automobiles with a car that was supposed to cost only 1,000 US dollar. But William Hewson lacked in one important thing; he had no suitable car! To realize his dream he contacted the company Coachcraft Ltd. based in California – 8671 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood. The company was already founded in 1940 and developed from cheap small cars through to most luxurious vehicles almost any kind of car.
 
In 1945 William Hewson commissioned the company Coachcraft Ltd. to design his desired car. The finished prototype was characterized by its aluminum car body, which curved around the vehicle in semicircular elements without any edges. Since the chassis and the lower superstructure apparently offered enough stability, the car body was designed without any roof structure. Nevertheless, to protect the passengers from the elements it was planned to offer the customers three different roof parts; a soft top, a clear plastic top and a metal top. There was choice of two different engines; a four cylinder and a six cylinder engine. Both would have been installed in the rear. As the company Coachcraft Ltd. finished its development work and the car was ready for series production a payment of 16,000 US dollar was due. But the Hewson Pacific Corp. and William Hewson were not able to raise the development cost and probably also lost the interest in a series production.
 
Therefore the car remained in the possession of the company Coachcraft Ltd.. They exhibited the car in their showroom before they sold it for 650 US dollar to a car dealer in Minnesota in 1959.