Automotive History Online

Featured Automobile of the Month

July 2006

In 1955 Chicago enthusiast Ed Gaylord took his dream of a American Sports car to Brooks Stevens to design. The car was built in Germany by Spohn of Ravensburg. It was powered by a Cadillac V8, 365 ci engine developing 305HP at 4700 rpm, with a 100" wheel base chassis with 7.10 x 15 tires. The Gaylord Gladiator redefined what the automotive world expected from an American production car, in terms of luxury. The intricately shaped luxo-coupe, sporting a retractable hardtop, was a super-exclusive luxury car rivaling the highest-end Rolls imaginable — at least in price. (It cost nearly $18,000 in mid 1950s dollars - more like $150,000 today). With its swept-back, jet-age comportment, German build quality and upper-crust interior appointments. The car featured a slide-out spare wheel and illuminated wheel wells for night-time tire changes. However is is rumored that only 3 of the 25 Gladiators needed for the upstart company to survive were ever produced. Of the 3 Gladiators produced only 2 survive and there were abouts are unknown. If anyone has seen one of these remarkable Machines please Contact us so we might help solve a mystery of Automotive History.

1956 Gaylord Gladiator

1956 Gaylord Gladiator

1956 Gaylord Gladiator interior 1956 Gaylord Gladiator -top

1956 Gaylord Gladiator side 1956 Gaylord Gladiator rear

News Update 5-29-07
Our very own Chris Summers has tracked down more information on the mysterious Gaylord Gladiator. Here is the e-mail (reproduced with permission from Mr. Bill Gilmore of Auto Search International) about more on the history that surounds the cars the were designed by Brooks Stevens. It's a very interesting read.

Hi Chris,

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). The Gaylord car was designed and built by brothers Jim & Ed Gaylord of Chicago Illinois to compete in the international "GT" or Grand Touring car market-place against the gull-winged Mercedes and such, but, (like the Chicago-built Tucker before it), never made it to market because the company was eventually dragged down by civil lawsuits and Jim Gaylord wound up in the hospital suffering from exhaustion. As you may already know, Jim Gaylord commissioned me and my company Auto Search International (back in the late 1980's or early 1990's if I remember correctly), to locate his Gaylord Pre-Production Prototype # 2 or Serial # PP2. I ended up searching in Europe (Germany, Italy, France and the UK), where I generated some media attention to my search and eventually, (through the museum contacts I made), traced the car to a collector in Lyon France named Lucienne Loriel (spl??) . When I contacted Mr. Loriel in person at his office in Lyon, he warmly welcomed me as my interview with him had been prearranged by a mutual acquaintance who at the time was the curator of the French Gran Prix Museum in Cann and who vouched for my credentials as a legitimate automotive researcher and historian.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gaylord did not tell me that whoever owned PP2 would be in possession of it illegally. Our interview began by talking about American collector cars in Europe, then Mr. Loriel began telling me about some of the American cars he collected over the years. When we started discussing the Gaylord car, he talked fondly of the car at first, remembering intimate details of its construction and its unique options. But, when told that Jim Gaylord himself was looking for PP2 as the car had been missing for apx 35 years, Mr. Loriel started acting very strange and suspicious and denied ever owning one despite press photo's I had uncovered of a Gaylord taken in Paris that were attributed to Mr. Loriel. I remember quoting Shakespeare to Mr. Gaylord when I called him after my interview saying "thou protests too much" as Mr. Loriel acted visibly upset when he learned that I was searching for PP2. Mr. Loriel also told me several times during our interview that the car no longer exists, but I question how he could know that if he wasn't involved with the car somehow or at least knowledgeable of PP2's history.

We concluded that Mr. Gaylord would need to hire a French-speaking private-eye to take a closer look at Mr. Loriel (and his garages) as we now knew that the wealthy and powerful Lucienne Loriel (spl??) was alerted to my search efforts in France. So, as your own research has already shown, the only known Gaylord's existing in America were at the Silver Springs museum. Jim Gaylord himself told me that U.S.. Customs' permits back when the car was being designed said that all the U.S.... imported pre-production prototypes were required by law to be returned back to their European builder (Karosseriefabrik Hermann Spohn in Ravensburg Germany) within a certain time frame. Jim Gaylord had assumed they all were shipped back to Spohn (who also went out of business do to the lawsuits), so, as you can imagine, he was quite intrigued when I told him of their existence in Florida and he planned to contact the museum himself. Incidentally, since then, I have personally seen the Early American Museum's Gaylord along with an unclothed Gaylord rolling chassis with drivetrain the museum had back during the 1990's so you are absolutely right that they do exist. The question is, where are they now?

Unfortunately, since Jim Gaylord passed away during the mid-1990's, I have lost contact with all those involved over the years and do not know of any of the cars current whereabouts in Europe or the U.S.... Anyway, as an active member of the Society of Automotive Historians I would be very interested in learning of anything you may have uncovered on the Chicago-built Gaylord car. Because I grew-up in Chicago near the Tucker factory, I have had a special interest in Chicago-built cars since I was a teen, so please keep me posted on your efforts to uncover another one of our automotive histories' mysteries. Also, if you are really serious in your quest to find these missing Florida cars, my company could be hired (again) to find the lost Gaylord's and I'm quite sure that we could fairly quickly research some solid verified and actionable information for you at a very reasonable cost.

Sincerely,
Bill Gilmore

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