Let's PLAY! If you are a playboy or a guy who likes to have fun, what car is suitable for you? Is it an Italian roadster, English limousine, or a rare car whose name is the same as your personality?
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| A rare unique 1948 Playboy A48. (Picture from: RM Sotheby) |
Yes, this unique car name is the Playboy A48 which was produced in 1948. This rare car was the brainchild of Louis Horwitz, a Buffalo Packard dealer; Charles Thomas, a Pontiac engineer; and service station owner Norman Richardson. And reportedly, this car was not made much, and only numbered less than 100 units.
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| Left side view of 1948 Playboy A48. (Picture from: RM Sotheby) |
As reported by RM Sotheby's sites, the Playboy A48 made its debut at the Statler Hotel in Buffalo in the autumn of 1946. The prototype car was a three-passenger runabout with a canvas top, propelled by a rear-mounted Hercules four-cylinder engine.
By the summer of 1947, they had changed to a front-engine configuration and were building a few Continental-powered cars, now with a manually operated retractable hardtop.
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| Interior view of 1948 Playboy A48. (Picture from: RM Sotheby) |
The car using a four-cylinder engine with a total capacity of 2 liters which is only capable of spewing power of 40 hp. From the engine, those power is transferred through a 3-speed manual transmission system. This car has a top speed of 125 km/hour.
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| Rear side view of 1948 Playboy A48. (Picture from: RM Sotheby) |
But unfortunately, Playboy did not last long, because the auto maker company was declared bankrupt in the 1950s, and the remaining car was then sold by distributor Alvin Trumbul, the Hartford, Connecticut, distributor, who sold many of them to a former dealer in Massachusetts.
Reportedly the name was fondly remembered by Hugh Hefner from his childhood and the rest is history. Then, he borrowed the name of this car to build his male entertainment empire named Playboy.
This Playboy A48 is the last model, and once owned by a Florida car collector since the 1960s. Not long ago, these two tone classic colored car was finished repairing, and has been auctioned by RM Sotheby. In the auction held on next October, the car is offered at prices ranging from $55,000 to $75,000. Well, how much is the final price of this car when it was sold at those auction? Does anyone here know about that? Hope you don't mind to share with us through the comment section below. *** [EKA [27092018] | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CARSCOOPS | RM SOTHEBY'S]
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