Holy time suction vortex, Batman! Coachbuilt.com is an amazing and very comprehensive site that deals strictly with American coachbuilders of the past (and perhaps a few of the present). When we were tipped off to this link, we were thinking that there would be a short list, as we were woefully unfamiliar with the history of coachbuilding in America. Yeah, we were a little short. There are 1,200 companies documented on this site. It is amazing.
As you’d expect, the vast majority of the companies operated in the early 20th century, building custom bodies that would be mounted onto the frames of mass produced passenger cars, or in some cases, custom built pieces. When we think about coachbuilding we also mentally zoom to Europe a hundred years ago and think of a bunch of dudes with mustaches hammering out panels in dimly lit workshops. We should have been thinking of our own shores as the 1,200 companies are all American.
The level of history provided on each individual entry is way more comprehensive than we could have imagined. We just found ourselves clicking randomly to see what we would see. It is great fun. The site is also divided among companies that built cars, trucks, commerical vehicles, etc. Click below and kiss your day goodbye.
Thanks for the tip BangShift.com member JRoberts!
LINK: Coachbuilt.com
