This Fiberfab Centurion for Sale Is a Custom Corvette You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Designed around the 1959 Chevy Corvette XP-87 prototype, this kit was developed as a full fiberglass body that could be bolted onto a C1 Corvette chassis.
The old days of speed shops and custom parts have long since given way to a new generation of tuning and modification. Where today, you can have an extra 50 or 100 horsepower with a laptop and can order any number of parts off of the internet, speed parts used to be hard to get. You used to need to know a guy. This 1958 Chevrolet Corvette Fiberfab Centurion for sale by Artcurial is an old-school example of knowing a guy.
Warren “Bud” Goodwin was an amateur sports car racer turned race shop owner. He started a shop in 1957, simply called Sports Car Engineering, that he turned successful and sold at a profit. Even with his early success, he still wanted a way back into the race car building business. So in 1964, he joined with business partner John Hebler to start the Fiberfab company.
Initially, Fiberfab supplied lightweight panels for the most popular sports cars of the day. Think Corvettes, Jaguars, and Mustangs. In 1966, Fiberfab started offering full fiberglass body kits, including the Centurion kit that was installed on the aforementioned Corvette. It is modeled after the 1959 Corvette XP-87 prototype, known as the first Corvette Sting Ray. Though by the time Fiberfab offered the kit, the C2 Corvette that the XP-87 inspired was already for sale.
Fiberfab exists to this day, though its history between then and now isn’t so good. Company founder Goodwin shot and killed his wife Jamaica Goodwin in 1967. Warren Goodwin died of a heart attack shortly into his 12-month prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter. As an aside, that seems awful short for shooting someone.
This particular Centurion-kitted ‘Vette is for sale in France and is stored at the Circuit de la Sarthe, better known as the circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It’s due to go across the block on June 30 at an estimated $175,000.
Got a tip? Email tips@thedrive.com
