TOPIC: ‘56 del Mar

Hi there - not sure if this board is for the G3’s smaller cousin, but I hope so!
I’m trying to find out which Studebaker model’s rear windshield was used as the windscreen for the del Mar. I know different Glasspar models used different rear windshields and thought I knew the correct one for my boat, but now I can’t find it.

Anyone know? Any other del Mar owners out there?

Hello Gabriola Del Mar,

Welcome to Fiberglassics and you are in the right place for sure.

Saw the pictures of your Glasspar in the Boat Pictures and she looks Awesome!


According to our friend Eddie Grijalva, in his book “Glasspar Boat Builder: Circa 1952-1962”, he wrote it was a 1965 Studebaker Champion.


An obvious typo so it had to have been a 55 Champion.


Thanks,
Terry

Thanks Terry for the welcome and the windshield info! My windshield isn’t terrible, but it’s pretty scratched and the gaskets and rubber are not in great shape. I thought I would start searching for a replacement for some time down the line.

Hi again Terry. I don’t have seats in my del Mar yet and am trying to get an idea of what the originals were like. I’ve seen lots of different seating in pics, but it would be great to know what they started out with!

Where are the "Boat Pictures?" This site? I'd like to see them too.

I have a 56 del Mar, slated for future restoration so I'm watching this to learn.

Hey David. In the main forum checkout “TOPIC: Just Awesome Boat Pictures”

I have a couple of YouTube vids that the guy who I bought my boat from made while he restored her - I’ll post them soon.

Beautiful! Thanks for guiding me to the photos.

Do you own that brochure? I'd like to see more pages from it.

I have three del Mars and not only do none of them have seats, but in years of research, I've NEVER seen what the original seats looked like. I suspect that they were fold down seats like their big brother, the Club Mariner. In the brochure above, it looks like there are no front seats. Also, was there ever any back seats? I've never seen any photos of back seats. I'm dealing with these issues now on my restoration and I'm building folding seat frames from scratch. I'm using 1" square steel because I can't weld aluminum and I will never pay someone $125 an hour to do so (my dentist doesn't make that much!) Since the del Mars didn't have splash wells, the back seat would probably be a foot or so forward of the transom to leave space for a fuel tank. This would limit an already very small deck space.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, I have seen a few options, that seemed to fit the time period, but wasn’t sure which might be “original”. I’ve noticed a hinged board with holes in it on a number of pics - not sure what that is.

The guy that did the restoration on my boat added a pod on the back that the motors are on and then put in a bench seat at the back.

I’ve attached pics of the couple of seating options I like and the back of my boat.

Looks like the book you mentioned isn’t available anymore - too bad!

I also added a bow fuel tank which leaves only a small tank for the kicker.