Abercromie & Fitch Runabouts (Glassics)

The following info was provided by Joel, the builder of Glassics,
 from his recollections in 2004

In 2011 I began to jot down VIN numbers of cars that seem to be Abercrombies. I will add to the list as I find them.

Glassic built about 20 to 30 cars for Abercrombie & Fitch to sell primarily through their Christmas catalog under a promotion of  "for the man who had everything".  Most of them were sold through West Palm Beach and Miami, and the cars were "charged" to a particular store. This was not great for the store's profit page since cars usually had a much smaller markup than other high priced items.

2008: One Abercrombie ad said they only had 4 for sale (perhaps at that time) and another ad said that only 7 were made. That Abercrombie ad was spotted as "for sale" on eBay. - the source of the ad page was not mentiond.

Among the cars built for Abercrombie were some 4 -wheel drive models - which presented a particular challenge for Glassic since there was limited floor space inside the cars to start with.

The cars sold by Abercrombie were essentially the same as regular Glassics, except that they had a custom made medallion in the front that said "Abercrombie Runabout" - the word Glassic did not appear anywhere on the car except for the VIN tag.

Joel also reports that there were, at the time, TIES sold by Abercrombie with a picture of a Glassic on them.  Something to watch for in flea markets!

In 2011, in response to an inquiry from an International Scout club member, I asked Joel (Who is Joel?) what he remembered about the Abercrombies/ Here was his reply:

There were 12 4WD Abercrombie Runabouts built - all at the same time and they were featured in the Christmas Catalog... the only thing special that I remember was the emblem on the radiator shell and the quail on top... that's about all I remember about that subject....(Joel) -- Upon further probing, Joel added that there were some 2-wheel drive vehicles built as "Abercrombies" as well as the dozen 4WD vehicles that were special-ordered for Abercrombie.

A poor quality copy of an Abercrombie ad can be seen at http://www.glassicannex.org/litrchr/abfinad.htm

 Pictures of the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog.

Bill of sale for a 1967 Abercrombie Glassic

Thanks to Mike, the current owner of car 218, for sharing this document in Nov. 2004

Thanks to Jack, the owner, for these pics of his car # 269, with its Abercrombie name plate on the radiator shell.

A close-up of the Abercrombie nameplate on car 269.