A tantalizing aside is a mysterious photo in an old photography magazine of a mildly modified CRV with a caption reading "Stylized by OSI." OSI was an Italian body manufacturer (formerly associated with Ghia) that built short runs of sports cars, as well as one-off show cars, in the mid- to late 1960s. Perhaps they built this version, which has headlights sunken into the front fender line, a hood air outlet, and chrome trim around the windshield and side windows. The first CRV prototype had been widely shown in European auto shows.
Try as they might, Winfield says only seven cars were completed. AMT scuttled the program in 1969 and the Piranha disappeared from the scene. The price of financing even short-run production was simply too high for AMT to make a profit. Winfield says AMT returned the chassis, bodies, and complete cars on hand to Marbon. The only cars that did not go back were the U.N.C.L.E car, the dragster, and the Carbajal road racer. However, AMT built a number of scale models of the Piranha series, including the U.N.C.L.E. and drag race versions.
Kits Return
In the early 1970s the familiar Piranha shape returned via a kit car sold by Sportsland Unlimited (a division of Allied Fiberglass) in Lincoln, Nebraska. The car was named the CRV, and the body was Cycolac, leading to the assumption that Marbon was still supplying bodies. However, the special chassis was gone, replaced by an uncut VW Beetle floorpan. A bare body shell retailed for $500, while a deluxe kit (with bumpers, windshield, roll bar, and seats) was another $395. An optional convertible top added $100, and a hardtop with gullwing doors was $150.
In 1974 Allied offered the same basic body (renamed the Seagull) but with a fiberglass body. It differed in many details from a CRV, with no doors or front trunk and larger, uncovered headlight openings. The lower roll panels were modified with an angled indentation that did nothing for the styling, ditto for the more upright windshield and bulge over the engine area (most likely these changes were made to avoid legal issues). The Seagull continued to be offered by two more companies, Aerospace Engineering and XL-100, Inc., which were probably also divisions of Allied. By the late '70s the Seagull was extinct, and Marbon later built a Cyclolac-bodied sports car prototype called the Formacar, but this failed to make it into production as well.
Cars built by Centaur, Marbon, and AMT are very rare and highly prized. The only example on public display is the "Man From U.N.C.L.E." car, which periodically appears at conventions and trade shows. Few of the Centaur CRV prototypes are accounted for-some may have been destroyed when their research days were over. Best estimates are that 15 complete CRV/Piranhas were made by Centaur and AMT combined. It is also possible that some cars were assembled from parts left over from the project, and these would be in addition to this figure. Centaur was later shut down and its assets sold at auction, and it is rumored that some Piranhas may have been sold at that time.
Some Centaur Piranha street cars have survived, sold after the project was cancelled. The "Man From U.N.C.L.E." Piranha has been restored, and the dragster and Carbajal road race car are still around. Seagull fiberglass bodies surface from time to time, and some believe the CRV/Piranha is one of the best-looking cars (not just kit cars) of the 1960s and, with Corvair-running gear, they should be maintainable and plenty quick.
Thanks to Piranha fan Nick Whitlow for inside information and photos of these remarkable cars, which you can further explore on his killer Web site: www.chadwick-whitlowenterprises.com/piranha. Also a tip of the hat to Gene Winfield, who continues to make stunning customs and rods in his shop, Rod & Custom Construction, in Mojave, California, for supplying information.