C/K - Hawk dash

[oldguy]

Just curious. My 53 has a steel dash, the 62 has fiberglass. When did they change?

[r1lark]

K-body Speedsters in '55 had a fiberglass dash (other '55 C-Ks had steel), and all C-Ks had them starting in '56.

[bezhawk]

Actually the 55 Speedster was advertised as having a 'Royalite' dash. whatever that is.

[Chucks Stude]

Royalite was a plastic, known for its ability to "remember" its original casting dimensions. It could be bent, and return to its original shape. The big use for it was in canoes. You could wrap one of these things around a tree, and set it out in the sun and after a while "pop" and it would go back to what it was. Pretty cool at the time.

[JBOYLE]

Royalite was also used for molded interior panels for light aircraft...light and flexible.
Also, it was the body material for the 8/10th scale Cords in the 60s. In fact, US Royal, the tire maker that developed it, paid for the body molds.

[old digger]

Royalite work great till it got real cold(like in Minnecoldia). Had a canoe made of this and it exploded one winters day when it blew off it's storage rack. old digger