Apal

For the small Russian plastics company who builds an SUV see: APAL Stalker

The Apal Coupé was produced from 1961 till 1965 and featured a glass-fibre body on a VW Beetle chassis.

Apal is a small-scale automobile company originally from Belgium. It is now based in Germany.

Phase 1 -APAL - s.à.r.l. Application Polyester Armé de Liège (1961–1998)

Porsche-engined Apal Coupé 1600 (1963)

Glass-fibre specialist Edmond Pery founded this small automobile manufacturing company in Blegny-Trembleur (Liège), Belgium in 1961. Pery presented his first model, a GT coupé with gull-wing doors, propelled by Volkswagen or Porsche engines at the Brussels Autosalon (or Salon auto de Bruxelles) in 1962.

In 1965, Apal started producing a Formule V single-seater.

Between 1968 and 1973, about 5,000 glass-fibre bodies were produced for different buggy models such as Apal Buggy, Apal Rancho, Apal Jet, Apal Avvi, and the Apal Corsa (with gull-wing doors). The Apal Horizon GT was a mid-engined sports car and was made in a limited number in 1968 and 1969.

The Apal 1200 Saloon was an attractive car based on Volkswagen beetle floorplan. It had a thrust-forward nose with a divided front bumper and a well-sloped curved one-piece windshield. The rear-mounted engine was air-cooled, with cooling air exhausting through a grille in the rounded tail, which also sported a divided rear bumper.

1966 Apal Formula Vee single seater.
Apal Horizon GT

Specifications of 1966 Model Apal 1200 Saloon

Engine: four-cylinder air-cooled VW, 1,192 cc, 7.0 compression ratio, rated at 40 PS
Maximum speed: 80 mph (129 km/h)
Overall length: 13.942 ft (4.249 m)
Overall width: 5.317 ft (1.621 m)
Height: 4.100 ft (1.250 m)
Turning circle: 36.0 ft (11 m)
Wheelbase: 7.875 ft (2.400 m)
Front track: 4.283 ft (1.306 m)
Rear track: 4.225 ft (1.288 m)
Fuel tank capacity: 8.8 imperial gallons
Empty weight: 1496 lb (679 kg)[1]

The most successful model was called the Apal Speedster and is a replica of the Porsche 356 model, built on a VW Beetle floorplan. Altogether 700 were completed between 1981 and 1994.

The company's last model, named the Apal Sport One, based on the Pontiac Fiero, appeared in 1992.

Edmond Pery also designed an all-road prototype for DAF in 1974 and another prototype for Volkswagen in 1992. The small firm produced and sold all models in limited numbers.

Phase 2 - Apal Gmbh, Germany (1998- to date)

The original Belgian company closed in 1998. Apal Gmbh, a German company of Ostercappeln, bought all the spare parts and restarted production of the Apal Speedster.

As of 2006 the company has stopped production of ready-built cars and now only sells kits and spare parts.

References

  1. ↑ L. A. Manwaring, The Observer's Book of Automobiles (12th ed. 1966), Library of Congress catalog card 62-9807, p. 39
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