American Fibre Craft Aquila GT

Posted by John Mellberg November 10, 2020

American Fibre Craft Aquila GT

The AFC Aquila - showing off its gull-wing doors

Towards the tail-end of the 1970s, American Fibre Craft out of Cupertino, California took the floor-pan and running gear of a Type 1 VW Beetle and transformed it into something unique. The car was called the Aquila GT, and it borrowed many of its design cues from the, BMW Turbo concept car, the Bricklin SV-1, and other sporty cars of the day.

The Aquila's main inspiration, the BMW Turbo concept car

In stock form it used the original 1200cc engine that produced a blistering 45 horsepower when new, along with the original four-speed gearbox. One could say it was a whole lot of "show" with not much "go" but it was guaranteed to turn heads and a wide variety of engine swaps were possible. Often engines like the Chevy Corvair Monza Turbo were used.

The AFC Aquila - interior

Just 150 kits were produced in a span of about a year. The white one pictured is number 137. The body is made entirely out of fiberglass, and the interior is hand-crafted and comes with a dark tan finish on the seats with some very ‘70s-esque styling cues on the dash and center console.

The exterior came in a number of Gel-Coat colors but the pièce de résistance was the gullwing doors, which were sure to draw a crowd. Especially once cars like the DeLorean had popularized them.

The AFC Aquila

Other standard features includes pop-up headlights – a must have on all ‘70s-era sports cars – pop-off windows, some Aquila-branded floor mats, and 5-mph safety bumpers to mimic the SV-1, because safety is sexy.

The company soldiered on into the 80's but eventually went the way of so many makers of VW-based kits of the 60's and 70's, into the scrapyard of history.

The updated Aquila prototype

An updated, mk2 version of the Aquila was planned for a late 80's debut. The car was slated to use the original, K-car based, Plymouth Laser's running gear which was mounted mid-rear in a new bespoke chassis. Externally it featured revised styling and an upgraded interior. It sadly never made it to market.

Note: This article originally appeared in the "Rare Component Cars Archive", hosted by Shannon Larratt of priceofhistoys.com. It has been updated with additional content and info.