Every year I look forward to seeing what the Grand National Roadster show throws out in terms of prizes and show cars, this year’s selection of cars on the show floor seemed to be exceptional, there has been a whole bunch of coverage elsewhere that we aren't in a position to match, check the bottom of this post for a whole load of links.  We're here to talk about the winners though, but not the winning car.
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I'm going to say this straight up, I wasn't that happy with the winning car for this year’s show.  I'm sure on many levels it is excellent and exemplifies something that the judges were looking for, but to me it did press my buttons.  You don't get to build a GNRS winner without having built a few cars before hand, so I always like to check out the history of the people that place in the big prize.  Scotts Hot Rods were the winners this year and their past rides are pretty interesting, particularly this Truck Speedster.

Original a 1956 Chevy Truck the guys at Scotts had bought it to use as a shop hack, fate had other plans though.  The Learning Channel was filming seasons one of its 'Rides' TV series and asked Scotts to build something, this speedster truck is the outcome.  If you can find Season 1, Episode 6 of Rides you can see the full build up with the people behind it.  In the mean time Scott's Hotrod and Customs website has a bunch of build up pictures, some of which you can see here.

Called Heavy Metal the truck is an all out custom job, the stock frame rails remain, but cross members, transmission, air bag suspension, brakes, and LS1 engine are all custom.  The body work has been cut, smoothed and shaped into submission with the whole lot sitting on custom billet wheels, 18" at the front 20" at the rear.  The whole speedster look works well on the truck a great piece of out the box thinking.  Probably not the most functional pickup you will ever see, but certainly one of the most unique.

Custom and Classic Trucks have a feature with excellent photographs in which is well worth a read.

You can also see more build up pictures at the main Scott's hotrods site.

As for Grand National Roadster Show coverage, this thread on the Retro Rides forum, has a whole bunch of links for you to check out.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: February 2, 2010 22:55

It is about time we hit you all up with another Linklog, so here it is.

Let us start off with some "Atlanta, Shenanigans, automotives, and old schoolery" from Puregroove.org.  These folks are out there enjoying their rides and turning up some cool ones whilst they do it.  Expect a bunch of photographs of work in progress, interesting stuff they find on the next and some just plain cool posts.  Their leanings are certainly towards all things Japanese, but spread through the blog is a selection of fine automotives and photographs of all sorts, well worth adding to your bookmarks.

Keeping it on the other side of the pond we've got the home of Mike Burroughs, whose BMW we've featured before, the excellent StanceWorks site has a range of more modern, but well stanced (obviously) cars on it, some outstanding photography and event reports as well as a newly opened forum.  Plenty of inspiration to be found amoung the pages contained within.

We found this next website whilst tracking down information for our entry on Troy Trepanier's new car, and it was quite a find.  V8TVShow.com has a great mix of videos, from car features to technical how to's the side offers a lot to keep you interested and educated.  Particularly if you like cars with a V8 in them.  There are also some great project videos where you can really see a car come together and then get out on the strip, track or street.

Seeing as we seem to be spending our entire time this linklog on American based sites, I'll add this one in too.  TMCarPhoto is, as the name would imply, a car photography site, mainly dealing with Goodguy's Columbus, Detroit Autorama and Auburn shows the photography is very nicely done and there is a lot of it to look through, so it should keep you busy for a while.

To round things off in a traditional way we need a video, so we'll have a slice of life in San Jose, California, some very cool Bombs






Posted on: June 12, 2009 04:08

Bill Harrahs 1969 “Jerrari” came to my attention last year when it cropped up on eBay. I’d never seen or heard of it before and it is a pretty bizarre machine, combining curvacious Ferrari 365 front sheet metal with a then brand new Jeep Wagoneer. The Ferrari theme was more than skin deep though as the 365’s V12 engine also found its way into this concoction.

Harrah's Jerrari in a period magazine

When listed on eBay it was now fitted with a more mundane small block Chevy motor so what happened to the Italian running gear?

eBay photos on Jalopnik

You would imagine it may have ended up back in a sixties Ferrari but I recently discovered, totally by chance, its destination.

I had bought a pile of seventies Street Rodder magazines at an autojumble as its an era of hot rodding I feel I know very little about. Leafing through them I came to a 1978 issue and some construction photos of a roadster being built at Magoos Auto Shop in California. The car’s owner ran a West coast Ferrari dealership and so had decided to build a top-notch rod as a promo for the business using a V12 for motorvation.

In 1977 Harrah had decided to replace the Jerrari with another V12 equipped Wagoneer and presumable chose a more current engine. The engine from the old wagon found its way into that same hot rod shop where it was installed in the roadster, the chassis extended by four inches to allow for its length. Once complete this car was named the “Deucari” and won the coveted “Americas Most Beautiful Roadster” award in 1979, making the cover of Street Rodder in June of that year.

So this one engine has been in several iconic cars, leaving Modena in a 365, being transplanted into a millionaires folly and then finding a home in a famous hot rod in which (assuming its not since been replaced) it still lives as seen here in a recent Oakland Roadster Show. Not bad!

 

Posted on: June 11, 2009 06:15

There are not many custom car builders I follow as closely as Troy Trepanier, the man has such a great eye for good design, brilliant craftsmanship and surprising base models that he serves as an inspiration on many levels.  Like a lot of 'super star' builders he has the luxury of a well equipped workshop and someone else’s budget to play with, rather than play safe in this freedom the cars that Tory turns out seems to push things forwards, it seems the guy that built his first cars at home got more toys, but kept his passion and vision.

So I was understandably excited to see his latest creation hit the pages of Hot Rod magazine.  Whilst it was presented complete at the Detroit Autorama the chassis had been on display at an earlier show, making the whole car ineligible for the prestigious Ridler prize.  This wasn't a car built for winning prizes, it was built for its owners, Nancy and Roger Ritzlow, whose previous partnership with Rad Rides turned out one of the finest rods we've ever seen.

This time round Troy returned to his habit of modifying obtuse base cars with a Chrysler 300.  Hardly the first car that pops into your head when you think of custom cars.  Troy knows though that it isn't good enough to just have a different type of car to work on, you have to build it to the standard and quality of the more common cars.

The modification list is as long as your arm, from large to small and on through to the unseen.  The chassis is in itself a work of art, the body modifications have all been done to try and create a car that looks like it could have rolled out of a factory looking like it does now.  It is the details that give this whole build a life, the rear bumpers has been cut, narrowed and blended with the body lines of the car, the clocks look like OEM items, but go up to 160, the engine has been made to look vintage, rather than hiding wires they have been made to look period correct.

Overall the finished article is what stands up, the fact it is an unusual choice doesn't, and shouldn't, matter, the car stands on its own.  The level of subtle mods and detail show a continued passion for turning out fantastic cars from Rad Rides.  This is without a doubt a high point in the shops output so far.  We're all looking forward to what they produce next.

If you can pick up the July issue of Hot Rod magazine to get their full feature on it make sure you do.

The photos for this entry were taken from this fantastic set from Detroit Autorama

Also the full build up pictures can be found on the Rad Rides site under Projects

Finally check out this interview with Troy part way through the build of the car

Posted on: June 9, 2009 03:53

You know that thing where you travel thousands of miles for an event, like it some kind of pilgrimage?  How when you get close you start to see other travellers on their way to the event, other signs of activity, which shows you are in the right place?  How as you enter the event a tingle runs down your spine, you've finally made it?  Then you have this amazing evening where everything goes perfectly, better than perfectly, until you are on your way home to dream of returning again... This isn't that story.

This is the story of what happens when ten minutes into your attendance at your pilgrimage the sky opens up in biblical proportions and rains hellfire and damnation on all unlucky enough to be stuck below.  It is also the story of dedication, a lunatic bunch of people keeping a tradition alive and cool, cool cars.



But first, a little background.
    
19 years ago the Kissimmee, Old Town cruise started up, it consists of a range of cars from stock classics to hot rods and street rods.  All the cars are pre 1974 and a reasonable wedge are pre war.  The website tells us that on average 325 cars cruise every Saturday night, making it the largest weekly car cruise in America.  The whole area around the cruise seem geared towards it, bars and eateries have car memorabilia, old signs and the likes on the walls.  Gift shops seems stocked with just the right kind of car related tourist items.  The area of Old Town has really embraced and supported the Saturday night cruise, so much so they have added a Friday night one as well for a different range of vehicles.

You can see an example of what goes on in this great little video :



The omens for our particular visit to the cruise were not great to be honest.  It seemed that Florida had forgotten that it was May and suppose to be sunny, instead storms were sweeping through on a daily basis, not the usual 4pm half hour storms you get in the summer, oh no, more end of the world revelations type storms with black skies and rolling thunder that lasted hours in the middle of the day.



However, Saturday came and was dry all day, so we headed to Old Town for about 7pm just in time for the band to start playing on the stage.  Walking into the street where everyone parks up before the cruise was a fantastic moment.  Literally fantastic, like walking into someone else’s film set.  Full house rods, sat next to big muscles cars, which in turn were parked next to VW campers and Beetles.  All in exactly the sort of eclectic mix I'd come to see.  Out came the camera and down the street I headed, absorbing the music and the car guys hanging out, just feeling like a part of the scene.  A tourist, miles from my real home, but completely comfortable, these are our people.

That lasted nearly half the length of the first street, then this happened :



Enough rain fell for such a sustained period of time that they nearly cancelled the cruise.  This was unprecedented, through hurricanes and sewage drain malfunction the cruise carried on.  The car guys were here to cruise and cruise is what they do.  The DJ that had replaced the band kept spirits up with a suitable selection of rain themed music, 'riders on the storm' being particularly apt.  The tannoy announced that any cars that were left would be cruising, given the hour and a half or so of torrential rain we'd had many had gone.  I got the feeling even if two cars were left they would have cruised, just to keep the tradition alive, dedication.  As it was forty or fifty cars were left to cruise and give the diehards that had stuck out the rain something to photograph and enjoy.

Standing in a bar, in Florida, eating a burger, watching cool cars and enjoying peoples company, that is what its all about.  The rains dampened the roads and cars, but not the spirit or dedication.



I'd certainly like to head back on a dryer evening and to take in the Friday night cruise.  If you find yourself in Florida, doing the Disney thing, suggest a trip to Old Town in Kissimmee on a Saturday evening, it has a fun fair, it sounds innocent enough to those in the family that may not understand our obsession with cars... Once you get there you'll be too distracted to notice any complaints.

In addition to learning that buying a rain poncho from Seaworld is a great idea, I also learned that Lucas car polish is pretty good from the guy that owned this beauty :





Posted on: June 4, 2009 04:54

Labelling cars can be a controversial subject. It is all too easy to get hung up about whether a particular car suits a certain moniker or not and then go off on a tangent on to whether its important anyway.. But a label also provides a reference point so that when describing a car to another person they can understand instantly what you are raving about.

I will freely admit that I have a favourite bugbear, and a particular word that to me should be kept special and “above” the uses it sometimes acquires. That word is “Kustom”. Supposedly first coined by George Barris in the early ‘50’s it applied specifically to the type of cars that Barris Kustoms and other master bodywork shops were churning out at that time. That is to say cars that were chopped, channelled, sectioned, had frenched lights, shaved/and or altered trim, modified grills, fender skirts and any other suitable bodywork from the customisers dictionary.

Photo from this flickr gallery

This style of modification started back in the ‘30’s with relatively new but cheaper brand cars in order to make them individualistic and be a bit more like the very expensive coach built European cars. By the late fifties the radical bodywork alterations were becoming less popular, perhaps because the cars factory styling was already fairly extreme Larry Watson became the coolest cat on the block with his new paint designs (and very low ride heights) on otherwise standard cars. Thus the end of the Kustom era had come.

In the last couple of decades there has been an explosion of so-called “Kustom Kulture” that seems to encompass a whole gamut of retro scenes, be it music, art, cars and bikes. Other groups have sometimes taken styling cues from this "kulture" and hence the term kustom has since been applied to all kinds of vehicles that, to my mind, are nothing of the sort.

A kustom has been, is now and always will be a 30’s to ‘50’s car with heavy stylistic content and a range of tasteful (and frequently major) bodywork alterations.

(Photo from here)

To check out some great photos of customs and kustoms check out this fantastic flickr gallery by Kid Deuce from which the other photos have been borrowed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80643375@N00/sets/72157594250735430/

And if you want to go buy a book on the subject I can highly recommend Pat Ganahl's "The American Custom Car".

 

Posted on: April 2, 2009 17:55

If there is one site that epitomises the Transplant culture it is the brilliant British V8 : "The online journal of the modified British sports car community".  We have in the past featured cars from their pages, but as this is transplant week we shall celebrate the site itself, and give you a whistle stop tour of what makes it great.

For a start it is another online "magazine", the current issue of which can be found here.  This has car profiles, tech articles, race results and opinion pieces.  The "How it was done" features are a great source of information for anyone planning an engine conversion on a piece of old British tin.  The magazine also makes full use of being on the web by having a searchable archive.

Next up we have one of our favourite sections on all websites, the Gallery!  Jump in, select your particular poison, MG, Triumph, Healey, Sunbeam or Other, then prepare to spend a fair amount of time checking out all the engine conversion.  The sites name is a bit of a misnomer, as there are many non-V8 conversions in its ranks, like this Rotary powered Midget or this Jaguar V12 powered Healey.  We could in fact spend an entire article picking out great cars from this selection, we already did a bit of that for the MG section with our Attack Of The Killer Bs feature last year, the selection of great cars has grown even more since then.

Rounding the site off we have an excellent forum and details of forth coming meetings as well as photos and results from previous meetings.

The site is a great resource for anyone interested in engine transplants, or wanting to check out just what you can squeeze under the bonnet of an MGB.

Posted on: March 25, 2009 04:47

We like our art here on RSM so imagine our excitement when we saw some great stuff appearing over on the message boards at Japanese Nostalgic Car. We fired off an email to the artist with a few questions in the hope of finding out a bit more about the man himself:

Name - Dennis Salnikov

Location - Royal Oak, Michigan, USA

Age - 28

What do drive? - '78 Nissan 280z and '97 Nissan 240sx - both on-going projects.

Dream garage - Some of the cars on the list: Nissan kpgc10 through R35 Skylines, Mazda FD3 RX7, Toyota MKV supra, '68 Camaro, c6 z06 Corvette, the list goes on and on and on...

What is your drawing/illustration process and what equipment do you use - I start out with a rough sketch, either on paper or directly on the tablet. afterwards I scan it in, and continue the illustration in photoshop, sometimes corel painter.

How much do you charge? - Prices vary based on the type of work desired.

Any favourite artists? - Leonardo da Vinci. modern day artists and designers - Ashley Wood, Jon Sibal, Judson Bryant, Julien Montusse, just like the cars, the list goes on.

Day job? - Auto designer

Any other hobbies/interests? Cars of course, architecture, art, interior design, design design design.

Anyone you'd like to thank or anything you'd like to add? - I'd like to thank matt of farm of minds blog, jon sibal, jdmEGO jay for helping me bring my blog and work to life, toyotageek of toyotageek.com as well as the JNC community.

Thanks Dennis!

I guess now it's just time to show you some of his work:

A classic Toyopet Crown commisioned by toyotageek.com .

It's not just the old stuff, check out the detail work in this interpretation of Curtis Chen's time attack Supra.

More new metal in the form of this R32 Skyline.

Another Supra. The illustrations have cartoon-like proportions, but not so much as to seem unreal. What you're seeing is an enthusiast's eye rather than a formulaic 'big wheels and stretched roofline on everything' approach.

Back to the retros, this Z is one of the first Dsalni renderings I saw. It perfectly captures the essence of all that we like about retro cars.

You can reach Dennis (or just look at more pics) via his excellent blog at http://dsalni.wordpress.com . Once again, thanks to Dennis plus an additional thanks to all of those whose cars have appeared here.

Into your auto-art? Find our previous art entries here:

http://www.retroscenemag.com/post/Need-More-Motorvation.aspx

http://www.retroscenemag.com/post/Steve-Kirks-Motorvation.aspx

http://www.retroscenemag.com/post/Bob-Haro-2c-BMX-vs-Car.aspx
 

Posted on: March 18, 2009 06:44

The SS/AMX cars I wrote about last week were converted for AMC by Hurst so I thought I’d have a look at what else this aftermarket company had been up to. It was founded (as were many now well known performance brands) in the late ‘50’s when hot rodding and drag racing were really exploding in the US. There was a large market for performance gear shift levers and associated components particular in the developing muscle car ranks and George Hurst was the man to help satisfy it.

(Photo from this flickr gallery)

By the mid sixties Hurst was a household name – at least in the households of American car enthusiasts – and this must have been helped no end by the demonstration cars they built and displayed at top drag race meetings. The wildest of these to my mind is the Hurst Hairy Olds of 1966/7 which was a twin-engined, four wheel drive machine.

It utilised a pair of blown Oldsmobile Toronado engines and gearboxes to prove their strength and capabilities since the front wheel drive road cars were something quite unusual in their home market. Read more about it and see some fantastic period photos at Hursthairyolds.com and Oldsmobility.com.

 

 

Another Hurst "discovery" was that of Linda Vaughn, quickly dubbed the First Lady of Drag Racing, who could regularly be seen hanging on to her large golden shifter as seen here in this great period footage which we sadly can't embed, so you'll have to visit the link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh3qg14K2-M

It wasn’t just Olds though as there were several other manufacturers that used the Hurst parts and name to create special editions. The Hurst Jeepster Commando was one such collaboration for Kaiser/AMC though reading the spec list on HurstJeepster.com it looks to have consisted of little more than badges and some bolt on accessories.

But they must have done something right because while it has gone through a couple of different ownerships the Hurst brand is still very much alive and well.

Hurst Shifters

 

Posted on: March 13, 2009 04:29

A single line in one of those coffee table type books I was recently reading intrigued me. "About 50 AMX SS models were built strictly for drag racing; they put out more than 350 horsepower" I decided to find out more.

The AMC AMX was a very unusual car in its day, being the first steel bodied two seat car produced in the USA for over a decade. Introduced in 1968 it was essentially an AMC Javelin with a much shorter wheelbase. Various engine options were available from a basic 290ci V8 up to a performance 390ci engine with over 300bhp which could do a mid 14 second 1/4mile time straight off the showroom floor.

There was always room for more though. In 1969 AMC decided to enter the NRHA Super Stock fray, sending 52 manual box, 390ci examples off to Hurst to be further modified. The compression ratio went up to 12.3:1 and a cross ram, dual-quad intake manifold fitted. The result was an eventual NHRA rating of 420hp and timing slips dropped into the 10s

The survival rate seems to be very good considering the potential for old race cars to get neglected or changed beyond recognition. The fantastic SS/AMX website lists 39 of the 52 with their current whereabouts and many period and recent photos. There are also documents and descriptions of the modifications made to the factory cars.

There is also a very good website dedicated to the range at AMX Files

See/hear a couple on you tube!

While this might not be one of the original SS cars it’s a great launch!

Posted on: March 5, 2009 05:39