What exactly is a "special"?
01/15/2015
They are popular, the sports cars with the look of pre-war sports and racing cars and a chassis from Riley, Alvis, MG, Austin (7) or even Bentley.
But what exactly is a Special? Let's try a definition. A Special is an individually bodied sports car based on a series-produced load-bearing chassis. These designs originated in the pre-war period when owners were not satisfied with the bodies offered by the factory. However, the specials really boomed after the war, because building a sports car on a practically worthless pre-war chassis allowed even less well-off contemporaries to build a hot runabout for comparatively little money.
The appeal of these entertaining to drive and visually attractive special constructions has not waned to this day, because even in modern times specials are still being built and often a limousine has to give up its life because the chassis is put to a new use. In most cases, these are fantasy constructions based on pre-war models, but they have an increasingly difficult time with the authorities when it comes to registration.
.jpg)
However, specials were also created in the past that differed more in terms of technology (e.g. larger engines, units from other manufacturers, additional superchargers and other performance enhancements) than in appearance. And what about the chassis that were equipped with a larger number of plastic bodies? Is a Ford Popular chassis with a Microplas body also a Special? Is a VW-based buggy even a special? Where do we draw the line here? How extensive must the modifications be for a car to become a "special" (see Jaguar E Type above)? Is a Lotus Elan chassis bodyworked by Pietro Frua also a special? Probably not. A "special" should be an individual construction, usually built by the owner himself or assembled in his garage at home without a great deal of technical effort. This should make it possible to distinguish it fairly clearly from special bodies and kit cars.
But perhaps one of our readers has a better definition and further thoughts on the subject of "special"? We're all ears ...
