Industrial Plastics Service was a plastics and fiberglass company, later noted for specializing in making automobile bodies. It was owned by J. Fraser Rae. 5
The earliest reference is in 1949 at 3807 Harrison Street, a decidedly non-industrial area. 1
By 1952, they had moved to a Quonset hut at 4425 Linden Street, where they manufactured car bodies for the Maverick sports car. 2 In 1953, they made a custom body for the LeBlanc-Bardahl Streamliner, a special car designed by Gene LeBlanc to try to break the land speed record. 3,4
One of their products, Astrolite R-250, was used in a building a 36-atmosphere cloud diffusion chamber at Lawrence Berkeley Labs in 1955. 6
Links and References
Hop Up Magazine, November 1953 3
- classified ad Oakland Tribune April 23, 1949
- Oakland Produces Plastic Car Body Oakland Tribune August 24, 1952
- The LeBlanc Special on kustomrama.com
- Along Auto Row Oakland Tribune November 29, 1953
- 1952 Maverick sales sheet Forgotten Fiberglass
- A 36-Atmosphere Diffusion Cloud Chamber lbl.gov