WONDERFUL ONE-OFF | The UNIQUE Wellman Roadster, Based on a 1954 Chevy, Begins Restoration

Each car we find has a story. Sometimes we’re lucky and have some basic information down when we acquire the car. Other times we’re not so lucky and research begins in earnest. But with the Wellman Special which is the subject of today’s story, we were lucky and had an excellent article to work with about the car and the history of the person who built it.

But that’s rarely the whole story and further research often reveals more interesting facts. In 2020 we were thrilled to find and talk to Warren Wellman’s sister Elaine, who sent us additional photos, newspaper articles and other information about the her brother's handcrafted car. Here's an article from 1983 in the local paper in Oneonta, NY in where the car originates:

"Packard, Bentley, Bugatti. They are the names of rare and unusual automobiles, and the few people lucky enough to own them are justifiably proud. But there is one man in West Oneonta who is, if anything, prouder than all the rest, he is the owner of a 1982 Wellman Convertible. There was just one model year for the Wellman and only one car was ever produced. And its owner and builder, Warren L. Wellman, said it draws stares and questions as only a one-of-a-kind automobile can.

“I’m always being passed on country roads by people who want to see what the front end looks like,” he said. “I was out on the Massachusetts Turnpike once, and a guy rode up alongside on a motorcycle at 65 miles an hour and we had a big discussion about it.”

That is understandable. The curving fiberglass body with its hood scoop and radiator grille looks like a cross between a European sports car and a 1960s Hot Rod. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to build my own car,” he said, adding his design ideas originally sprang from high school study hall, “where you’d sit around bored and draw pictures.”

A French teach at Oneonta State, Wellman built the car in his garage over the course of five years. He cut down frames from two old Chevrolets and welded them together to make a frame with a 100 inch wheelbase – about the same size as the Corvette sports car. Power is provided by a 1964 Chevy V8 engine. Other items include taillights from a 1948 Lincoln and a window frame from a 1954 convertible.

But the body design was pure Wellman imagination. His direct inspiration came, oddly enough, from canoes. “I’d been keeping my eye on fiberglass technology all along, and I saw they were using it to make canoes. It got me thinking, if you can build a canoe out of it, why not a fender?”

He said he was helped in the task of transforming a paper design into an auto body by his engineer father, who had taught him design basics and a process called “lofting” when he was young. Using the lofting technique, Wellman constructed an interior mold of plywood, screen and plaster. He then draped several layers of fiberglass cloth over the plaster form, and soaked each layer in turn with plastic resin.

Once the fiberglass hardened, the plywood sections and the plaster were broken up and removed from the inside of the new body. Heavy gauge aluminum wire abandoned on his property by a power company was woven into a radiator grille by Wellman, a job he said he probably wouldn’t have tackled had he known how difficult it would be.

He also veneered dashboard and door interiors with mahogany and rosewood, and fashioned a solid mahogany steering wheel, adorned in the center with a silver “W” the Wellman logo. Wellman said he had to wade through rivers of red tape in order to register the homemade auto with the state. The car even underwent a police inspection to ensure that none of the parts used in it were stolen, a development, he said, that made him glad he had saved all of his parts receipts.

The car handles well, according to Wellman, and gets about 20 miles to a gallon of gas. He estimated he has put about 1500 miles on the car since he put it on the road late last summer."

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Thanks for watching the video WONDERFUL ONE-OFF | The UNIQUE Wellman Roadster, Based on a 1954 Chevy, Begins Restoration

[alpeach]

Wow !! My kinda car !! I hope to see it finished. The windscreen and door trim treatment could be the best I have ever seen on a one-off of this kind !! Exquisite !!

[johnboydTx]

Unique is what we Seek 🤔
Bizarre is what we ARE !!!! 🤷
I like it 👍🍻
Happy Motoring ✌️

[DavidHall-genn]

I've never heard a 283 sound that good. IMHO, that's the perfect exhaust note. In addition to trimming the fender flares and a new burgundy paint job, consider extending the bright work that runs from the base of the windshield across the top of the doors a few inches so it terminates into the rise of the rear fender instead of stopping short of perfection at the end of the door. It's abrupt as it is, and looks like it's missing that detail. I like that the grille's woven stainless wire is repeated in the hood scoop. Very cool car. I thought those were'49 or '50 Lincoln taillights at first glance, and pleased to be proved right when you mentioned them. The rest of the repurposed parts were unrecognizable to me but at least I got one right.. Looking forward to seeing her brought back to her former glory... and then some, from the sound of it.

[justinacole]

I know Don! He's a great guy and friend. What a cool car.

[notchboy]

That is one cool car. Those fender flares don't do it any favors though.

[gphilipc]

Interesting Car. Would like to see it all painted up like new with bumpers. I can see the early 50's Chevy doner car in the doors.

[mattskustomkreations]

What a crazy looking car. It’s almost like a real life cartoon. Lots of fun and a real attention getter I’m sure!

[jamesbosworth]

What a nice car! And SO DAMN WHAT IF THE EUROPEANS DON'T LIKE IT! We are AMERICANS and are PROUD OF IT!

[gcrauwels]

Some nice lines, others a bit bulbous. Wellman put a lot of effort into it. Respect.

[seandoole]

Feels like someone was building their own C1 Corvette. The '52 Chevy chassis, early SBC, but with a little European front end treatment and a rear borrowed from the AC Ace/Cobra.

[robertcallahan]

Side marker lights are from '69 Ford, used on several Ford models

[jimmieroan]

beautiful car and being a very old person i love customs, especially one that is a complete custom like this. but just a quick note, the impala wasn't used on production cars until i think 1958, there was a concept car in the late 50s but not 55.

[dionrau]

It's really Cool, but I don't think the wheel flares are right for the car 🤔 IMO

[dionrau]

Who's the music at the end of the video? Sometimes that jassy stuff is what's up!👍

[jamesbosworth]

I have heard of and seen this car, sometime many years ago. I think Mr. Wellman was a doctor or dentist.

[mattconnor]

Why not keep the Stude wheelcovers? Were they not from the original build?

[mile]

it would look really good in a raw liver color

[jamesbosworth]

And, it has a V8 engine instead of a sewing-machine 4.

[dancingtrout]

looks like there is a Fifty Nine Vette Under There ....chuckles

[djsandvig]

Don’t get me wrong…I admire the accomplishment, but we used to call these things “hot rods”……and one can tell he had no formal design training.