One of the real American GT cars of 1970s called the Guanci SSJ-1

Forgotten ONES Still from American soil and discussing a sports car model from this country that is rarely seen by the public todays. One of the mentioned cars is the Guanci SSJ-1 (stands for Super Sports John model 1), it is an American mid-engine sports car made by Woodstock, Illinois based automaker Guanci Automobiles Inc. The sports car was produced only in three copies in between 1979 to 1981, and its production series did not materialize.

The first two prototypes of the Guanci SSJ-1 were presented to the public for the first time at the Chicago Auto Show 1979; and the rest followed and shown at the same expo in the next following year. (Picture from: CurbsideClassic)

Even though if viewed from the name alone, we can tell that this was not a big automotive company, nevertheless but that's not entirely true, because it founded and owned by an American industrialist, John Guanci whose famous owned the company manufactured industrial furnaces back in the 1970s.

The Guanci SSJ-1 (in pictured possibly was the first prototype) undoubtedly shared the dream of so many others back then, built by a Chicago businessman John Guanci as a mid-mounted GT with his name on it. (Picture from: Pinterest)

Furthermore, the story behind the car creation was initially related to John Guanci's daily vehicles. As quoted from Wikipedia, reportedly he personally owns and drives many European sports cars such as the Lotus Elite, but he is dissatisfied with the cars and considers to be poor automotive creations. 

This is possibly the Guanci SSJ-1 first prototype which is powered by a 5.7-liter eight-cylinder General Motors engine that produced 220 hp. (Picture from: Klassiekerpassie.nl)

Then in 1977, he decided to develop his-owned sports car that was as comfortable as it was and reliable, by using American technology and taken John Z. DeLorean as a role model for his car project. The Guanci's sports car project began in 1978 and was carried out by a team consisting of Bob McKee, Mike Williams, Steve Norcross and Dick Kleber.

Reportedly, the red Guanci SSJ-1 (possibly was the second prototype) is the daily vehicle used by John Guanci aka the second prototype, is powered by a six-cylinder turbocharged Buick engine with a displacement of 2.8 liters and an output of 189 hp. (Picture from: Reddit)

In short, firstly they constructed a massive ladder frame from welded steel elements. Then for the car's drive technology and the chassis were obtained from General Motors. While the engine was installed in front of the rear axle, perpendicular to the direction of car's movement. At that time the team also immediately built three prototype units, each powered by a different engine.

The Guanci SSJ-1 (in pictured possibly the third prototype) while sat on display at the Chicago Auto Show 1980. (Picture from: MakesThatDidntMakeIt)

The first prototype was powered by a 5.7-liter eight-cylinder General Motors engine that produced 220 hp. The second vehicle received a six-cylinder turbocharged Buick engine with a displacement of 2.8 liters and an output of 189 hp. While for the third car was retrofitted with an Oldsmobile Aurora eight-cylinder engine. Furthermore on all of these three prototypes then installed a three-speed automatic transmission system of General Motors.

The cabin atmosphere of The Guanci SSJ-1 featuring two seats covered in a slick combination of leather and fabric. (Picture from: Klassiekerpassie.nl)

The SSJ-1 car body is designed by John Guanci and Mike Williams which is consisted of fiber glass reinforced plastic and bore a strong resemblance to the structure of the Giorgetto Giugiaro-designed Maserati Merak. Uniquely, it has hydraulically operated pop-up headlights were located on the gently sloping front section; below it ran a narrow cooling opening across the entire width of the vehicle, into which two chrome-plated decorative struts were embedded. 

In front of the driver of the Guanci SSJ-1 there is a four-spoke steering wheel combined with a dashboard that contains a number of instrument panels and the center console houses a radio/tape entertainment system. (Picture from: Klassiekerpassie.nl)

Resemblance like the Merak, the first prototype had free-standing struts behind the driver's cab that sloped towards the rear of the vehicle, while in the later two cars, the rear side panels were glazed. And also on all of three prototypes have a unique design features such as the large, linear air intake behind the doors.

The Guanci SSJ-1 (in pictured possibly was the third prototype) is powered by an Oldsmobile Aurora eight-cylinder engine. (Picture from: Klassiekerpassie.nl)

The first two prototypes were presented to the public for the first time at the Chicago Auto Show 1979, and the rest followed and shown at the same expo in the next following year. In an interview with Motor Trend magazine in 1981, John Guanci claimed that he had invested a total of US$ 600,000 in the development of his SSJ-1 sports cars and planned to produce about 50 cars a month.

The Guanci SSJ-1 (in pictured possibly was the third prototype) along with the red one are in the possession of John Guanci, while the first prototype is in the Netherlands. (Picture from: MakesThatDidntMakeIt)

At that time, he also stated that the SSJ-1's production was set to begin in 1982 with a price tag of around US$ 63,000. But when it came to 1982, John Guanci instead decided not to produce the SSJ-1 sports car for economic reasons.

The reason was General Motors' reluctance to supply engines at a discount. So until 1982, only three copies of the SSJ-1 were ever built.😉 Reportedly all of these vehicles are still there where the first prototype equipped with a 5.7-liter eight-cylinder engine is now in the Netherlands, and the other two cars are owned by John Guanci. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WIKIPEDIA | RITZSITE.NL | CURBSIDECLASSIC | ALLCARINDEX | MAKESTHATDIDNTMAKEIT | KLASSIEKERPASSIE.NL ]

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