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{{short description|Small-scale Belgian automobile company}}
{{for|the Russian company that builds an SUV|APAL Stalker}}
{{for|the British pipeline engineering company|Andrew Clennel Palmer}}

[[Image:1963 Apal Coupe fl3q.JPG|thumb|right|The Apal Coupé was produced from 1961 till 1965 and featured a glass-fibre body on a VW Beetle chassis.]]
'''Apal''' is a small-scale automobile company originally from Belgium.

==Phase 1 -APAL - s.à.r.l. Application Polyester Armé de Liège  (1961–1998)==
[[File:Bonhams - The Paris Sale 2012 - Apal-Porsche 1600 Coupé - 1963 - 005.jpg|thumb|Porsche-engined Apal Coupé 1600 (1963)]]
Glass-fibre specialist ''Edmond Pery'' founded this small [[automobile]] manufacturing company in [[Blegny]]-Trembleur, [[Liège Province]], [[Belgium]] in 1961. Pery presented his first model, a GT coupé with [[gull-wing door]]s, propelled by [[Volkswagen]] or [[Porsche]] engines at the Brussels ''Autosalon'' (or ''Salon auto de Bruxelles'') in 1962.

In 1965, Apal started producing a Formule V single-seater. The Apal Horizon GT was a [[Mid-engine design|mid-engined]] sports car and was made in a limited number in 1968 and 1969.

Between 1968 and 1981, about 5,000 glass-fibre bodies were produced for different [[Dune buggy|buggy]] models such as Apal Buggy, Apal Rancho, Apal Jet, Apal Auki, and the Apal Corsa (a sporty version with gull-wing doors).<ref name=BBoyzBE>{{cite web | url = http://www.buggyboys.be/en/kit-apal.htm | work = Buggy Boys Belgium | title = Apal Buggy | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20180927035131/http://www.buggyboys.be/en/kit-apal.htm | archivedate = 2018-09-27 }}</ref> The Jet was a copy of a buggy originally developed by Glassco Inc. of USA. This set of molds then made its way to England, where PABC/Eresbug built it in London, with the Four Seasons Buggy Company manufacturing it from 1971 on and finally [[:de:GP (Automarke)|GP Projects]] from 1975 until 1976. Apal traded the Auki buggy molds for the Jet molds and modified them, adding a T-bar and side skirts and replacing the curved [[Ford Anglia]] windshield (not as easy to acquire in continental Europe) with a flat unit.<ref name=BBoyzBE/>

The Apal 1200 Saloon was an attractive car based on Volkswagen beetle floorplan. It had a thrust-forward nose with a divided front bumper and a well-sloped curved one-piece [[windshield]]. The rear-mounted engine was air-cooled, with cooling air exhausting through a grille in the rounded tail, which also sported a divided rear bumper.

[[File:1966 Apal Formula V.JPG|thumb|right|1966 Apal Formula Vee single seater.]]
[[File:1968 Apal Horizon GT side.JPG|thumb|right|Apal Horizon GT]]

The company's most successful model was called the '''Apal Speedster''' and is a replica of the [[Porsche 356]] Speedster, built on a [[VW Beetle]] floorplan. Altogether 700 were completed between 1981 and 1994.

In 1984 Apal also developed a two-seater sports coupé using [[Mercedes-Benz W201]] underpinnings, called the '''Francorchamps''' after the [[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps|Belgian racetrack]].<ref name=BBoyzBE/> This was developed together with an American company with the aim of selling the car in the United States, but with the dollar rapidly losing value the project became untenable and only two copies were built. The company's last model, named the '''Apal Sport One''', based on the [[Pontiac Fiero]], appeared in 1992.

Edmond Pery also designed an all-road prototype for [[DAF Trucks|DAF]] in 1974 and another prototype for Volkswagen in 1992. The small firm produced and sold all models in limited numbers.

===Specifications of 1966 Model Apal 1200 Saloon===
Engine: four-cylinder air-cooled VW, 1192&nbsp;cc, 7.0 [[compression ratio]], rated at 40&nbsp;PS<br>
Maximum speed: 80&nbsp;mph (129&nbsp;km/h)<br>
Overall length: {{convert|4250|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Overall width:  {{convert|1620|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Height:         {{convert|1250|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Turning circle: {{convert|11|m|ft||abbr=on}}<br>
[[Wheelbase]]:      {{convert|2400|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Front track:    {{convert|1306|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Rear track:     {{convert|1288|mm|in|1|abbr=on}}<br>
Fuel tank capacity: {{convert|40|L|impgal usgal|abbr=on}}<br>
Empty weight:  {{convert|679|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}<ref>L. A. Manwaring, ''The Observer's Book of Automobiles'' (12th ed. 1966), Library of Congress catalog card 62-9807, p. 39</ref>

==Phase 2 - Apal Gmbh, Germany (1998- to date)==
The original Belgian company closed in 1998. A German company, under the name Apal Gmbh and based in [[Ostercappeln]] ([[Lower Saxony]]), bought all the spare parts and restarted production of the Apal Speedster.

As of 2006 the company has stopped production of ready-built cars and only sold kits and spare parts.

As of 2017, the Apal Automobiles brand is the exclusive propriety of Belgian businessman Charles-Antoine Masquelin.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*https://web.archive.org/web/20040810065559/http://www.rvccb.be/LISTE%20CONSTR.%20BELGES/A.html#apal
*https://web.archive.org/web/20040728093255/http://www.apal.de/
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080425165435/http://users.telenet.be/apalclubbelgium/apalclubbelgium/index.htm Apal Club Belgium]

[[Category:Car manufacturers of Belgium]]
[[Category:Car manufacturers of Germany]]
[[Category:Kit car manufacturers]]
[[Category:Companies based in Liège Province]]
[[Category:Companies based in Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:1960s cars]]
[[Category:Cars of Belgium]]