Their dilemma began with a teenager who wanted to race a 1955 Chevy and the inability of both the chassis builder and the customer to find a race body that fulfilled their vision.

This was the inspiration which joined Tim Wallace, owner of Wallace Motorsports in Boise, Idaho, and Bob Mandell of Bob’s Pro Fab in Culleoka, Tenn., in a business venture to supply fans of the 1955 Chevy with an alternative body design, which they both feel better represents the iconic automobile.

“None of the bodies we bought and or even looked at were to our satisfaction, they were all distorted looking and didn’t have that authentic look of a ‘55 Chevy,” said Wallace, whose son Timmy will race the car in Top Sportsman.

Their dilemma began with a teenager who wanted to race a 1955 Chevy and the inability of both the chassis builder and the customer to find a race body that fulfilled their vision.

This was the inspiration which joined Tim Wallace, owner of Wallace Motorsports in Boise, Idaho, and Bob Mandell of Bob’s Pro Fab in Culleoka, Tenn., in a business venture to supply fans of the 1955 Chevy with an alternative body design, which they both feel better represents the iconic automobile.

“None of the bodies we bought and or even looked at were to our satisfaction, they were all distorted looking and didn’t have that authentic look of a ‘55 Chevy,” said Wallace, whose son Timmy will race the car in Top Sportsman.

Wallace and Mandell actually ordered two bodies, neither of which gained their approval for a variety of reasons.

One of their primary complaints was the inability to put a large tire under the car without having to make wholesale changes to the look of the car’s rear design, effectively killing the spirit of the project in the first place.

Adjusting the rear to accommodate the larger tire, would have impacted the design of the front, pushing it even further away from the initial intention by having to stretch the nose.

Thus was born Authentic Composites, and what Wallace and Mandell believe is a 1955 Chevy design that suits their initial vision.

The end product, they agree, came from constant refinements made from countless hours shaping the plug to their liking.

There were some adjustments made to their offering, all in the name of aerodynamic performance, such as kicking out the front end about five inches as well as some wedge and narrowing. To overcome the initial challenges, Authentic Composites believes a fair amount of wedge and sloping work got the job done while retaining a strong resemblance of the authentic original.

The majority of their time investment was spent shaping the rear of the car in order to retain a 3-inch rocker box and 48 ½-inch roof height.

“This body will be able to fit the 112 to 115 inch wheel base Top Sportsman car and or Pro Mod car, and it will easily accommodate the Top Fuel tire under it,” said Mandell. “The original shaped deck lid is in place and will allow for the new longer and lower Pro Stock style rear wing to be used.”

And while this body is finished for their initial project, forthcoming versions aren’t completely ready for sale. Their continual refinements of the product has put production behind schedule.

“We haven’t even finished the mold yet, we have just finished with the plug stage and we are already receiving phone calls from chassis builders, which is exciting to us,” added Wallace.

The plan is to first create a fiberglass version and follow that with a carbon fiber version. Then the Authentic Composites store will open its door for customers.

“We had two goals in mind when we started this project,” explained Wallace. “One was to make this body to be as authentic as possible, both inside and out. Making sure the exterior of the body was as authentic and functional as possible.

“The other goal of Authentic Composites is to have a product that requires little, if any, bodywork. Our goal is to have something that all a chassis builders has to do, is square it up, hang it, prime it and paint it.”

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