| Playboy Automobile Company | |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Fate: | folded |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founders: | --> |
| Hq Location City: | Buffalo, New York, United States |
| Areas Served: | --> |
| Key People: | Lou Horwitz Charlie Thomas Norm Richardson |
| Products: | Playboy Convertible automobile |
| Brands: | Playboy |
| Profit: | --> |
| Profit Year: | --> |
| Owners: | --> |
Playboy Motor Car Corporation was a Buffalo, New York-based automobile company, established in 1947. Playboy offered a small, one seating row convertible, which was one of the first to come standard from factory with a multi-part, retractable hardtop.
The company only made 99 cars including 1 prototype, 97 finished serial numbered production cars, as well as 1 unfinished car numbered 98 which has survived with zero miles on the odometer (99 cars total),[1] before going bankrupt in 1951.
Company founder Lou Horwitz was a Packard dealer who after World War 2 saw a need for a new smaller car for postwar America, a cheaper car than the Packards he sold. It would be built from outsourced parts and cost around $900. Horwitz recruited friends Norm Richardson (a skilled mechanic) and Charlie Thomas (a former Pontiac engineer).In the wake of Preston Tucker's bad press they had difficulty forming a dealer network, and only finished 97 production cars before declaring bankruptcy in 1951.[1]
| Playboy Convertible prototype | |
| Manufacturer: | Playboy Motor Car Corporation |
| Aka: | Playboy PR |
| Production: | 1 |
| Model Years: | 1947 |
| Assembly: | Buffalo, New York, USA |
| Body Style: | 2 door convertible |
| Layout: | rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout |
| Engine: | NaNcuin |
| Wheelbase: | NaNinches |
| Length: | NaNinches |
| Width: | NaNinches |
| Height: | NaNinches |
| Weight: | NaN- |
| Successor: | Playboy Convertible production model |
| Sp: | us |
The original prototype shares the same general shape as the production model, but features a rear mounted engine layout and a soft folding top.
It is owned and has been restored by company founder Lou Horwitz's grandson David Kaplan. According to Kaplan, "The black one never had an official number. When I restored it I put a PR on it for prototype." and "I finished it in the early '90s and I don't drive it much but I do drive it."[1]
| Playboy Convertible | |
| Manufacturer: | Playboy Motor Car Corporation |
| Production: | 1947–1951. 97 production cars plus one unfinished survivor numbered 98 |
| Assembly: | Buffalo, New York |
| Body Style: | 2 door convertible |
| Layout: | front-engine, rear-wheel-drive |
| Engine: | Hercules flathead inline four-cylinder NaNcuin (early models) Continental flathead inline four-cylinder 92cuin (later models) |
| Transmission: | 3 speed manual transmission |
| Wheelbase: | 900NaN0 |
| Length: | 1550NaN0 |
| Width: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Height: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Weight: | 20350NaN0 |
| Predecessor: | Playboy Convertible prototype |
| Sp: | us |
The Playboy had a 40hp Continental[2] four-cylinder sidevalve[3] engine driving a three-speed manual transmission. It would get 35mpgus. It would accelerate from 0-30mi/h in six seconds, and 0-50mph in 17 seconds. Advertised top speed was 75mph.[4]
With a 900NaN0 wheelbase[5] (100NaN0) less than the Rambler American), the Playboy measured 1560NaN0 long overall,[5] and was priced at just US$985.[5] It ran on 12adj=midNaNadj=mid rims, and weighed 1900lb. It was offered as a three-passenger convertible with a folding steel top.[5] (A station wagon was planned, but never built.)[5]
Under-capitalized, Playboy could not compete with better-financed companies offering more conventional cars.[4]
Of 97 production cars sold, only about 43 are believed to survive today. Five (including the prototype) are owned by David Kaplan, grandson of company founder Lou Horwitz. Today Kaplan is an authority on his grandfather's car.[1]