La Dawri

La Dawri Coachcraft was founded by Leslie Albert Dawes in British Columbia, Canada in 1956 and is credited with making Canada's first fibreglass car, the La Dawri Cavalier. The company moved to the United States in 1957 where it became one of the largest fiberglass sports car body companies during the rebody/specials craze of the 1950s and 1960s. The company ceased operations in 1965. Its name came from a combination of L A Dawes and his friend Don Wright. Dawes was born on 7 July 1933 and died in 2002.

Les Dawes began a small fiberglass manufacturing business in the early to mid fifties. Dawes made fiberglass body shells for McCulloch golf carts. During his spare time, Les designed a fiberglass bodied sports car, from an idea he is said to have had in the late 1940s. This car became the Cavalier.

The Cavalier model was first shown at the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver in 1956. Dawes intention was to sell the car in both Canada and the United States. In 1957 the company moved to Long Beach and later Los Alamitos, California. The Cavalier, renamed Conquest, was featured on the cover of Road & Track magazine in July 1957. The Conquest and the later Daytona were among the most popular models offered with a wheelbase of 100 inches. The Conquest was a two seat open roadster and was followed in 1958 by the Quest, a smaller version to fit smaller chassis.

The 1958 Daytona and the smaller Sebring were similar to the Conquest/Quest but with a single grill opening and front end styling. All the LaDawri roadster models had optional removal hardtops. A hardtop mold for the Conquest and Daytona models was being constructed with production scheduled for Fall 2008 available through LaDawri. com, but this did not proceed.

In 1957 or 1958 Jim Savage and his father constructed a fibreglass car as part of his portfolio to be accepted at Art Center College of Design. An unknown, but probably small, number of these cars were made before the mold was sold to LaDawri in 1962. LaDawri renamed the car the Centurion 21 and production continued until 1965.

The last body La Dawri introduced was the 1965 Formula Libre, with a front or mid engined layout. LaDawri offered to adapt it to take any running gear that the customer chose. At least two bodies were laid up for PBS racing. One of the cars is rumored to have been shipped to Japan. After the company closed, Les used the Formula Libre molds to build one prototype called the Vendetta. He built the car on a VW chassis for production in Canada. On a trip back from Canada the car was destroyed and Les was injured when a semi truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and ran over the towed car.

The reason for the company's demise has not been determined. There was speculation that it was either a fire that destroyed all the molds or the IRS chasing tax. Certainly, by the mid 1960s, competition from muscle cars made times difficult for the kit car manufacturers. After the company folded Les Dawes worked for a big aircraft firm, designing escape hatches for planes. In the 1980s he returned to manufacturing with a tent trailer for the back of a pickup truck. According to his wife it was hard to market. Because of the number of these cars built and still in existence there is still demand for parts and there is an owners' website. The 50th anniversary of the LaDawri Conquest was celebrated in March 2007 at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, with members of the Dawes family attending.