1966 Cannara Special

The Cannara was a one-off design built in the mid-1960s by Ray Cannara. Mr. Cannara of Florida had won a $4,000 scholarship in the 1962 Fisher Body Guild contest at age 15. After graduating from high school, he attended the Art Center for Transportation Design in Los Angeles, California, where he created the design (in 1964) for a one-off Cannara. He began construction in 1965 and finished a year later. Mr. Cannara received his bachelor's degree in Industrial Design from the Art Center College of Design and a master's degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Ray Cannara's career included working for the Chrysler Group where he helped pioneer virtual reality in the design process of automobiles.

The Cannara Special was initially powered by a front mid-mounted 283 CID V8 engine but was later fitted with a 350 CID V8. The car remained with Mr. Cannara during his college years and into the mid-1970s when it was sold. Many years later, it emerged from storage and was purchased by Bob Cicerone of Detroit, Michigan, who found the car on Craiglist. At the time, little was known of its history or who had been responsible for its creation. Geoff Hacker of Undiscovered Classics later traded a Cimbria kit car for the unidentified wedge-shaped car. Through research, along with help from the community, including Hemmings readers, an individual named Alan Berry recognized the car as having been built by Ray Cannara. Mr. Hacker was able to contact Mr. Cannara and learned that they were practically neighbors, living just 20 miles away.

The car's restoration team was led by Ralph Smith and Guy Dirkin. The entire restoration process was documented on undiscoveredclassics.com. The restoration work was completed in early 2022 and debuted at the Amelia Island Concours that year.

It has been suggested that this was one of the earliest (if not the earliest) vehicles to feature a wedge-shaped design.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2022