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Private company

Playboy Automobile Company

Defunct American motor vehicle manufacturer

Playboy Motor Car Corporation was a Buffalo, New York-based automobile company, established in 1947. Playboy offered a small, one seating row convertible, which was one of the first to come standard from factory with a multi-part, retractable hardtop. The company only made 99 cars including 1 prototype, 97 finished serial numbered production cars, as well as 1 unfinished car numbered 98 which has survived with zero miles on the odometer (99 cars total), before going bankrupt in 1951.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1947Founded1
  • Industryautomobile manufacturer1
  • HeadquartersBuffalo1

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1948 Playboy Convertible
Photo: Craig Howell from San Carlos, CA, USA; cropped and levels adjusted by uploader Mr.choppers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Playboy Motor Car Corporation was a Buffalo, New York-based automobile company, established in 1947. Playboy offered a small, one seating row convertible, which was one of the first to come standard from factory with a multi-part, retractable hardtop.2

Products and brands

The Playboy had a 40 hp (30 kW) Continental four-cylinder sidevalve engine driving a three-speed manual transmission. It would get 35 mpg‑US (6.7 L/100 km; 42 mpg‑imp). It would accelerate from 0-30 mph (48 km/h) in six seconds, and 0-50 mph (80 km/h) in 17 seconds. Advertised top speed was 75 mph (121 km/h).

With a 90 in (2,286 mm) wheelbase (10 in (254 mm)) less than the Rambler American), the Playboy measured 156 in (3,962 mm) long overall, and was priced at just US$985. It ran on 12-inch-diameter (30 cm) rims, and weighed 1,900 lb (860 kg). It was offered as a three-passenger convertible with a folding steel top. (A station wagon was planned, but never built.)

Under-capitalized, Playboy could not compete with better-financed companies offering more conventional cars.

From Wikipedia’s article on Playboy Automobile Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1951Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1947Founded Founded1

Sources

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

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