#jim simpson

The Simpson Design Swift Roadster 

This is the Simpson Design Swift Roadster, it’s a classically-styled sports car with a 0-60 mph time of under 4.0 seconds, it rides on modern suspension and disc brakes, and it gets excellent fuel economy – almost 50 mpg in fact.

Coachbuilding companies used to dominate automobile design back in the early days of the 20th century. People would often buy a powered rolling chassis from a manufacturer before sending it off to have a body built for it to their own specifications.Some well-heeled buyers even had two bodies for their cars – a convertible for the summer and a hardtop for the winter that offered better weather protection.While almost all of the original coachbuilding companies have now faded into history, there are still people out there creating unique bodies for cars, and one of them is a friendly man from Texas named Jim Simpson.

Simpson started out sketching cars before being offered a place with GM, in his earlier years he would do apprenticeships in Europe including a two year stretch with Ferrari.Over the years he started designing and building his own cars, in fact his concept car Blue Ray 3 was chosen to represent Nardi at their 60th anniversary at the Concorso Italiano.

Jim developed a steel chassis for the car as well as a full fiberglass body, he decided to make use of many parts from a donor Mazda Miata in order to give the car modern suspension, braking, performance, and reliability.The interior of the car is beautifully appointed, with a custom dashboard, 1950s period-correct seats, a wood rimmed steering wheel, and a diamond stitch quilted transmission tunnel. The completed car sits on knock-off wire wheels and a modern set of tires.