Frank Mann's Baby LeSabre

A publicity photo of Frank and the Baby LeSabre that was advertised for sale on eBay in February of 2022. The photo was taken by Howard Morehead who worked for the Johnson Publications line. Click here to check out the eBay auction listing.

Photo courtesy of Hidden Genius, The Black Engineer Behind Howard Hughes.

Photo courtesy of reddit.com.

1951 GM LeSabre Lookalikes built by Frank C. Mann of Los Angeles, California. Frank was an aeronautical engineer who worked with Howard Hughes on the Spruce Goose, was an instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen, and was an engineer of cars and planes. He apparently made six Baby LeSabre's and sold three to Mickey Rooney, Herb Jeffries and orchestra leader David Rose. One of the Baby LeSabre's was featured in Popular Mechanics July 1954. This one was built from a wrecked Crosley station wagon. The decorative basketwork was metal screening that was removable in order to simplify body polishing. The nose and hood of the car were cut down from a 1948 Ford, part of the front fenders were 1941 Oldsmobile, the windshield was a portion of a 1952 Buick, the front bumper combined parts from a 1948 Kaiser and a 1948 Mercury. In the rear, the tail-fin lights were 1948 Cadillac. The instrument panel was from a 1951 Pontiac, and the rest of the body was handmade of 20-gauge metal.

Magazine Features

Popular Mechanics July 1954