Private company

La Dawri

La Dawri Coachcraft was founded by Leslie Albert Dawes in British Columbia, Canada in 1956 and is credited with making Canada's first fibreglass car, the La Dawri Cavalier. The company moved to the United States in 1957 where it became one of the largest fiberglass sports car body companies during the rebody/specials craze of the 1950s and 1960s. The company ceased operations in 1965.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

LaDawriDaytona
Photo: Kw82253 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

La Dawri Coachcraft was founded by Leslie Albert Dawes in British Columbia, Canada in 1956 and is credited with making Canada's first fibreglass car, the La Dawri Cavalier. The company moved to the United States in 1957 where it became one of the largest fiberglass sports car body companies during the rebody/specials craze of the 1950s and 1960s. The company ceased operations in 1965. Its name came from a combination of L A Dawes and his friend Don Wright. Dawes was born on 7 July 1933 and died in 2002.2

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3