[pasadenahotrod]

Well they were a first line body maker for a long, long time. One of the first in the business even. Don't know what happened after the move to NC to be near the NASCAR boys but whatever it was was BAD. Their reputation for service and quality began to slip a little, then alot, then like a Colorado mountain avalanche, then CRASH...just the bones.
Their web site may still be up, and refers you to another fellow in VA I believe. It's been a while since I spoke to the man. He said he knew there were problems with the mould maintenance and part fit and the new owners of the parts and tooling(moulds, assembly jigs etc.) were in the process of making evaluations of what they had bought. He was enthusiastic but I haven't inquired any further to see what is going on there.
SO, Gibbon Fiberglass is NO MORE, a sad end to a lot of years as pioneers in the street rod body business but so it goes.

 

[poncho62]

Yeah...Too bad,..........But, General Motors used to make a decent product too...............Things change.

 

[powerrodsmike]

Here is a thread about those guys from last May that 302/z28 started.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/gibbon-back-beware-89085.html?highlight=texas

Vince had a very unhappy experience with Gibbon.

So the new owner is faulting the molds now? Then the molds were crappy too? I always thought the molds were nice, and it was the manufacturing techniques/ business philosophy that Kyle allowed to happen that flushed that company down the toilet.

If a mold is taken care of it will last hundreds, if not thousands of cycles.

I guess Kyle couldn't even take care of his dads molds.

Too bad for the new owner. He should have inspected the molds better and asked for proof parts before he took possession of them.

Later, mikey

 

[matt167]

Kyle just ran the buisnuess into the ground until it went under. there is a guy on CHR with a Gibbon '34 3w body, loads of trouble with it.

 

[pasadenahotrod]

Remember guys! Gibbon was the one and only fiberglass body maker that panel built their bodies just like a steel one for the most part except they mostly used oak and ash and maybe poplar for their structural stuff. So there is not one body mould with, say, 8 pieces. There are multiple moulds for each body though they may have shared cowl section moulds from compatible bodies like a Model A Coupe and a Tudor or 32 5W Coupe & Tudor or 33-34 All Closed Passenger and Sedan Delivery...you know like that.
And then there are the assembly jigs to make sure everything gets put in the right place at the right position so all the other pieces come together.
Was this Kyle the son son of Dwight Gibbon or his partner whose name I cannot recall?

 

[powerrodsmike]

Kyle is Dwight Bond's son. The "Gibbon" company name was derived from the location, not the owners surname.

A brief history from the Gibbon website.

http://www.gibbonfiberglass.com/resources/history.html

I think the stated business birthdate of of 1917 may be a typo ain:

later, mikey

 

[327NUT]

I thought they were dead too until I got the March, 07 Hot Rod mag...pg. 122, New Products ..." RACE BODIES by BOND " He's back at it...quote " Race Bodies by Bond is releasing the first '33 Ford unibody design. The package has no seperate chassis and uses a bolt-on front subframe. The race car inspired design is a complete rollcage built on a steel floorplate with a fiberglass body shell bolted to it." Even gives a phone starting with 308 area code, where ever that is, and if anyone is interested. I doubt Vince will be ordering one.