About
The Quezon SuperCab is Quezon’s first ever passenger vehicle.
In 1961, a few years after the founding of the Quezon-Sarao Plant, Ricardo Quezon felt a desire to manufacture his very own sportscar. This came after a trip abroad to the United States where he was invited to ride along in a friend’s vehicle.
The first SuperCab was made in late 1961, it was based off of a mid-40s Willys Jeep chassis (The basis for most Philippine Jeepneys of the era) with some changes to the general layout, such as the removal of the four-wheel-drive system and the front suspension being switched to a wishbone-type setup. The body is custom made from steel with a series of basic molds, and is reminiscent of American and European cabriolets of the era, with a retractable soft top roof.
It was powered by a now 20-year old 2.2-litre “Go-Devil” flathead inline 4 engine as seen in the Willys, but outfitted with twin Hitachi carburetors imported from Japan, allowing for a modest power bump up to 70hp. The transmission remained a 3-speed manual which required some effort to put into gear.
Handling-wise, it wasn’t exactly “sporty” at all. Weighing in somewhere under 900kg, it sure was light enough to be somewhat of a treat to drive, but an offroad-oriented suspension meant that it leaned quite a bit into corners and was softer overall, meaning it was just not what one would expect out of a traditional sportscar, but the soft suspension did allow for a rather smooth ride.
The first SuperCabs had relatively bare interiors, the steel plating used for the body was not covered by any form of carpeting until the later versions in mid 1962, and did not feature any tachometer at all. At the very least, it came with a radio and some vinyl seating very likely sourced from a jeepney.
Initially, Ricardo Quezon had no plans of making another SuperCab, but interest from peers meant he ended up producing a few more cars in the following years with relatively minor improvements overall. These other variants were labelled as the “30 Series”, “60 Series”, “80 Series”, and the final “100 Series”. They were labelled for the amount of vehicles Quezon had sold up to that point. The SuperCabs would sell for around ₱10,000 in 1965, which today would amount to roughly ₱700,000 or $13,000. In contrast to American-made and European-made sportscars, the SuperCabs were a bargain if not for the lack of power.
This particular featured SuperCab is that of the 100 Series first made in 1965, and is the 147th car made by the shop in late 1966. Changes over the original variant include a carpeted floor, vinyl door padding, wood door trim, vinyl and leather seats, as well as chrome interior trim. The engine now features an American-made Holley 4-barrel carburetor, which improved the power output to roughly 80hp. Exterior changes included a reversing light and thicker chrome bezels around the headlights.
The 100 Series SuperCabs were the first to truly give the company fame, when it was featured in an editorial page of the Manila Times in late 1965.
great looking car anyway.
lol)
