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1978 Redwood Grand Finalé

Crash Motors was in a sudden boom with plenty of cash to blow on whatever projects they liked from a sudden influx of money after the CEO had took what was left of there dwindling cash back in 75', gambling it all at a casino in Las Vegas, and somehow managed to win nearly four times what he had. By 77', Crash Motors had stunned the public with there beautiful Fireball super-sport car, and where working on a new V8 GT model which hadn't seen production since 74'.

Now, obviously, Redwood (which was aquired by Crash Motors in the mid 60's) wanted a share in the new model rampage that Crash Motors was going on. After a little negotiating with CEO William Tygr, it was official that Redwood would be allowed to make a super-car of their own. What they came up with was, to say the least, interesting.

Revealed in spring of 1978 at the Powell River City Motorshow, the Grand Finalé stole the crowd. What the designers at Redwood had cooked up was a gargantuan fastback monster. Capable of nearly 200 MPH, the mighty naturally aspirated V10 (borrowed from the Fireball) rocketed it to what where at the time, stunning top speeds. The car was said by the designers "to cut through the air like a bulldozer through an apartment complex". What that was supposed to mean is anybodies guess.

The motoring press where impressed with the power under the hood, but questioned pretty much the entire rest of the vehicle. Their biggest complaint was obviously the styling. "It was fascinating", was the best that could be said for it, for it looked like pretty much every single land yacht out there, but a fastback and with more "pizzazz". One source also questioned why it had so many air intake areas at the back when it was clearly a front engine car. The duck-tail wing was also a bit of a head scratcher. Another thing that was questioned the suspension, which felt extremely floaty, not generally a good thing in a so-called super-car, and the steering which took ages, meaning you couldn't turn quick enough in a bend at high speeds. Another thing was the price, which was crazy high, but not quite as crazy when compared to what some of the other more "exclusive" manufacturers where charging.

Now, the car was not the huge success that Redwood was hoping for, though it did bring decent attention to the company, especially when it was used in the Jim Bond movie "Gold Foot". Despite the car not sell all that well (only 1,100 sold), both Crash Motors and Redwood where surprised when they found out they actually made a very small profit on the car. These days, the car is extremely collectable since only about half survived. A recent one sold for nearly $300,000 at a car auction in California.




That's all. Hope you enjoy.
Oh, and thanks to Тяпк'us for letting me borrow the steering wheel off of his beautiful BMW.