Emil Deidt

The body for The Bob Weinberg Roadster was hand-formed from aluminum by Emil and Lujie Lesovsky at their shop at 53rd and Figueroa. The car was built in 1947-1948 and it had a cost of roughly $20,000. The photo was taken at El Mirage in September 1948.

Deidt did most of the bodywork on Vincent E. Gardner's Vega, a two-seat-roadster designed in order to win a contest co-sponsored by Motor Trend and the Ford Motor Company. The name Vega comes from a clever fusion of Vincent's name: Vincent. E. GArdner. The contest was first announced on the cover of Motor Trend September 1950. The rules of the competition declared the purpose of the competition as a means of arriving at a practical, functional body for a contemporary Ford Anglia chassis donated by the Ford Motor Company. The winning paper design was going to receive both the Anglia chassis and a $500 prize. There were also 2 hitches, Ford "reserved" rights to the winning design (two months after the contest was announced, rules were amended to grant Ford rights to ALL entries), and the winner had to build, or have built, the triumphant design, using the $500 "to defray expenses incurred in completing the body." Several hundred entries were submitted to the competition, but Vince ran off with the first price. The panel of judges consisted of Walt Woron, Lynn Rogers who was the automotive editor of the Los Angeles Times, and legendary Indy race car designer Frank Kurtis. Gardner's winning drawing and two photos of his cast-plaster scale model were presented in Motor Trend January 1951. The $500 prize money was not enough money to build the car, so Vincent managed to raise an additional $8000 from Henry Ford II. The photo shows Emil and Vince Gardner as they are checking out details on the nearly completed Vega.

Emil Diedt and Lujie Lesovsky ran a shop at 53rd and Figueroa.