There remains perhaps several thousand of the coaches in homes across the country with owners still marveling that such young boys were able to complete such a intricate piece.
As a result of this demand, Fisher Body Public Relations mailed out several hundred copies of the plan books each year until the division was disbanded. They are no longer available through GM.
The competition was started by Fisher Body in 1930 to promote the division's name. To stir up interest in the event and get boys enrolled, young college men were hired by Fisher to tour the country and speak to the boys at high school assemblies. Many of these "reps" later joined General Motors in various capacities.
For the first six years, only replicas of the Fisher Body coach trademark were constructed. During the 1936-37 competition, contestants were given the option of building the coach models or their perception of a futuristic car.
The contest was suspended in the Fall of 1937 because of declining business as a result of the continuing Great Depression. The suspension continued through World War II and then resumed in 1946. Two years later, the coach competition was dropped in favor of only the futuristic car models-- ceretainly much easier to build. The Craftsman's Guild continued until 1968 when a rapidly declining interest by boys brought the competition to an end. It was also noted that the craftsmanship of the entries were declining, perhaps due to other interests-- such as television.
