Council Bluffs native Alfred Clemens started building his own sports car in 1956. Clemens worked on the project in his free time while operating his own business called Clemens Grinding Company. He used his skills as a machinist to fabricate the car body out of sheet metal, shaping and pounding out the body himself. Using his home shop, Clemens experimented with new and used car parts to outfit the body of the car. An April 13, 1958 Daily Nonpareil article reported that the car was made up of “a 1937 Ford V-8 [for] the power plant; the wheels, frame and bumpers came from a Crosley; and a junked Hudson contributed the front fenders.” Alfred also purchased new parts including chrome mufflers, a racing windshield, and a front grille. In an interview with the Daily Nonpareil from February 3, 1957, he predicted that “the top speed won’t be high. Probably about 60 miles per hour if it will go that fast. But it will have plenty of pickup.”
The sports car, dubbed the “Clemens Special,” was completed two years later in 1958. The red two-seater was only 28 inches high and according to Clemens, “cost $300…plus a couple thousand dollars worth of hard labor.” On the car’s motor vehicle registration, it was listed as a “rebuilt 1958 convertible.” Years later, Clemens won first place in the original design class at the Nebraska Motor Sports Show at the Civic Auditorium in Omaha on May 6, 1962.
