The following is a series of vehicles built by Petoskey Motors over the years that were either a special case or a concept that never saw production. Often concepts are made either as prototypes intended for production, proof of concept, or simply as a means to stretch the imagination. Not only will concepts be shown, but rare vehicles that were built either for racing events or by private individuals that proved distinctive.
The first vehicle on this list started out as an ordinary 1947 Petoskey Model B Sport. For years bootleggers would work on improving the performance of their cars so that they could outrun revenuers. After the end of World War II, many GIs came home seeking additional thrill, these two factors combined to form the hotrod craze. This particular vehicle was modified by George Mason. Having served as a field mechanic during the war, Mason developed a good familiarity with the Petoskey 360 V8. When the war ended, he was overly excited when he learned that this same engine would be used in the Model B. After two years of saving up, he purchased one and set to work modifying it. This was his result:
While limited by the technology of the era, he nearly doubled the power output of the engine and became something of a legend among amateur racers thanks to his intimate knowledge of the Petoskey V8.
Not only did he gain notoriety from racing, but he also gained fame as a mechanic helping others tune their vehicles. In mid-1949 Mason was visited by Gordon Petoskey himself with a job offer. His work led to the development of the performance engines of the early fifties including the twin carb 360 used in the Indian Sport and Police Special. While working with the company he also learned about the 261 of which he was instrumental in creating a performance version for use in the 1955 Meteor.
George Mason was also responsible for a specially modified 1954 Indian which was intended for use as a Stock Car.
Despite the increased performance, the car never officially raced. Instead it served as a publicity piece. Eventually this custom Indian was sold to a private collector.
In 1965 a prototype was built to test the feasibility of a high end grand tourer. This car is known as the Ventnor Futuro.
A truly beautiful car, this featured a unique 648 cubic inch aluminum V12.
This car came very close to being put into production, the choice was between the Bambino or the Futuro. In the end the mid-engined Bambino proved a much cheaper project to run and could thus be built in a higher volume. Despite being a one off prototype, the Futuro broke a number of milestones for the company including a power output that would remain unmatched for decades. Even more incredible was the cars blistering top speed of 198.2 mph. Pretty impressive for a heavy luxury car with an automatic. Though the Ventnor Futuro project was killed, it remains a fantasy of what could have been.
The 1976 Ventnor Ferritto was built as an entry to the 1976 BRC 1000km Hockenheimring race.
The Ferritto was designed to be a lightweight mid-engine performance machine. It used a custom aluminum DOHC 106 cubic inch V6.
Initial plans involved gauging public reaction for the car depending on how it performed in the race, unfortunately the results were unimpressive and the project was scrapped.
The Petoskey Romero Battle Wagon was also entered into the BRC 1000km Hockenheimring mainly as a novelty. It was meant to be a more comical presence while the Ventnor Ferritto would be the serious entrant. In reality both cars ended up nearly the same performance wise finishing only a couple places apart. Still, it was a telltale indicator of how far you could stretch the performance of the 432 V8 through mechanical fuel injection and turbocharging.
While performance in the race was unimpressive, it did get people talking and the Romero Battle Wagon became a household name. Model kits, die-cast replicas, wind up toy cars, you name it they sold merchandise on it.
For the main season BRC Petoskey set to work on their existing Montauk to make a Trance Am BRC edition.
Unfortunately the car proved too expensive to serve in the competition and efforts to bring the cost down resulted in the car become less and less competitive so something else needed to be done.
A prototype for the Phase IV Meteor was in the works so development was rushed to get the car ready for the BRC 1976 season. Unfortunately the hurried last-minute effort resulted in an extremely poor performance during the season*
The soured opinion of the car thankfully abated when the official design was released in 1979 thanks to a new turbocharged 301 V8.
In 1980 a special limited version of the Stag Pickup was built for use in a Monster Truck event. Nicknamed the Dune King, this was the single most powerful Stag pickup ever built.
Once again making use of the 432, this time focus was solely on output which while impressive did result in a horrible 4 mpg average.
Since the truck still used leaded fuel, it could never legally be used on road. The high price tag limited it to sporting use anyway.
George Mason retired from Petoskey Motors around 1978. Using his savings he opened another custom garage. His son was running the shop by the mid eighties. This 1988 Stag Pickup is used as an advertisement for their work, namely in performance and off-road mods.
Using the lighter base model Stag as a template, a 432 from a Stag HD was swapped in mated to a 5RM5 transmission.
While primarily geared for offroad performance, this particular model served as inspiration for the Stag RTX that launched seven years later.
A special Stasera was built in 1990 to test the viability of an All Wheel Drive System. Initial reviews of the concept were well received.
However, a redesign was planned in 1991, and the new platform could not accommodate an AWD system so the plan was scrapped.
The 1999 Lakota Rally was another short-lived project. After the success of the Stag RTX, a plan was set in motion to use the 301 TriForce in the smaller Lakota pickup. The resulting efforts were actually slower than the larger, heavier Stag RTX.
Market research predicted the truck would be a commercial failure so the project was cancelled.
As future projects are built, I’m sure several more concepts and one off models will appear here.
