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Tom Jones
Sun Prairie, WI
Tom found the shell of this 1964 Amphicar
in Alaska and hauled it home to Wisconsin. These four passenger vehicles
were introduced in 1961 and were manufactured in Germany for four years.
It has a rear mounted 1147 cc Triumph OHV 4 cylinder engine that was rated
at 38.3 HP when new. Tom added dual side draft Weber carbs to the nicely
detailed engine.
Tom had a vision for this unique little
car and started out by adding fins from a 1958 Chrysler and named his
project "Finzilla". The louvered engine cover was a donated hood
from a GM truck. These cars originally had a soft top and were called
cabriolets. Tom chopped the windshield 2" and added a removable hard
top. After the car was painted and put into ship shape condition, he
enjoyed boating on many lakes in his area and showing it at Amphicar club
meets.
When Tom wanted to change the somewhat
square looking front end, he decided a bullet nose would look good and
went about locating a 50 Studebaker front end. This took tons of work to
narrow and shorten the front end so it would mate with the Amphicar's
body. Tom added Ford headlights to the Stude fenders and because the front
end had to be solid, he filled in the grill opening and behind the bullet
and the "grills" were hand painted on the solid panel under the
bullet.
The photo below shows Tom having a blast
in Finzilla with the top removed.
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