Meeting the Mistress

Back in 1980, Len Legere Sr. bought the remains of a ‘71 Javelin from a wrecking yard, and took it from a forgotten mess to the ISCA National Championship. The car had a HUGE impact on me almost twenty years ago, and still brings forth that teenage awe that it did when I first laid eyes on it at the Clutch Artists AutoRama in Buffalo, NY.

The one and only Mistress
Before we get too deep into it, dig on some video caught by my father those many moons ago (pardon the low quality– time has been harsh to the old VHS tapes, and his transfer was decent, but moving it online has degraded it a bit more…).

The car absolutely jumped off of its turntable that March day, and drove deep into my psyche. Here was a modern custom car… a contemporary take on the radical customs I was already obsessed over as a kid, but oh, so much more! That stance was aggressive, and not typical at all of a custom car, it had billet rollers, and those proportions, man!! Chopped and sectioned, and channeled just right over that custom frame… This was a 1:1 version of the models I was building! I can’t begin to count the hours I spent studying the car as it went ’round and ’round that weekend, but know this much: I was taking notes.

Radical Custom AMC Javelin
As a junkyard-trolling individual, I recognized the (then) late-model Monte Carlo headlamps, the Fairmont tail lights… but the specifications were branded into my brain: roof chopped 2.5-inches, body sectioned 3-inches, floors channeled 5-inches. I stood there, imagining the car sitting on the ground… how it would have looked, a whole, what… 40 or so inches tall? Awesome.

How’s the old girl look today? VERY well-preserved indeed. Some pics from this past Summer:

As she looks in 2009

It's what's inside that counts, too...

A modern classic
Anyway, I bring this car up following a week of finishing off a couple of pro-touring style car renderings, and a late night of pondering where that whole movement will go next. After all, custom cars grew to become milder versions of their former selves, save for a few notable examples like we have here, and pro-street became, well, pro-touring… Yet, almost 20 years ago, Len Legere created a car that would easily meld the custom and pro-touring camps, and left an indelible mark on my design sense. Since that day in the Buffalo Convention Center, I’ve worked to add styling cues to my designs that honor that pivotal moment, and have enjoyed the hell out of it all. Here’s hoping you’ll do the same, and thanks, as always, for peeking in….

Naturally, the question remains for my fellow hot rod designers (and those just peeking in, too!) :
How would YOU, as a hot rod designer or artist, update this car to compete once more in the modern day? What changes, if any, would you contemplate? Bonus points for posting up some ideas!

"Dooz" and donuts...

...and coffee, too.

Got into a great conversation with a friend recently over a few donuts and some coffee, and talk turned to historical cars that offer inspiration from a variety of standpoints.... and it tied in perfectly with what's going on in the automotive industry... especially with American companies folding. This kills me, as there seems to be absolutely NO RESPECT for the advances made by American car companies, or their impact on technology and the economy at large.

As you may already know, I have a deep fascination with all things Ferrari. The sheer elegance of design, combined with the amazing heritage and utter lust for performance that these machines elicit in one's mind... hell, one's soul, even, is the stuff of legend. Yet, surprisingly, for a guy who talks a lot, I've never touched on another great car to come from not Italy (although we'll touch on that later), but from right here in the US, the mighty Duesenberg.

How can one deny the sheer excitement of any of the company's offerings? Hell, even the history of the marque is filled with the stuff of legend. Two brothers, both self-taught engineers (think about it, isn't every hot rodder somewhat of a self-taught engineer?) set out to build sports cars. August and Fred built cars in the '20's that had features you might find on today's cars: four valves per cylinder, dual overhead cams, and even juice brakes!

Anyway, the history of the marque is readily available with some minimal research skills, so we won't waste time on chronology here. What interested me most about the Brothers Duesenberg, was their use of superchargers and other go-fast goodies that seems, well, kind of strange, given the years in question. We're talking cars in the late '20's that had 140 MPH capability! An American, coach-built car (hell, by the time a wealthy owner got done, these things weighed tons!) that could run 0-60 times in roughly eight seconds! Again, that's PRE-1930! If that's not engineering and hot rodding at its finest, well, grab some stronger coffee, sir, and wake up.

Moving along, an interesting point was brought up regarding the partnership of one Virgil Exner and Fritz Duesenberg (son of August) on the Stutz Bearcat.... here was the prime example of Chrysler design, working with the heir of the genius that was Duesenberg. Sadly, this was a doomed marque (but sure made creative use of domestic offerings from Delta 88's to Grand Prix's!) One begins to wonder what may have been, had this partnership been at a more opportune time. In a way, there's a lot of inspiration to be found in there.... the use of existing, perhaps not-so-inspirational cars to begin with, to create a coach-built car with performance, all while giving a nod to this golden age.

Sadly, we're at a point where the political agendas and underlying turmoil have destroyed the industry, and are stripping the historical significance of our storied past, and leaving with it a revised version, loaded with controversy. At it's most basic level, this is an industry that is dynamic, exciting and loaded with great stories of great men and innovation, and to not be inspired by any of it leaves one to consider anyone's dedication to it in a much brighter light.

We're in an age now (in the hot rodding hobby) where we have talented builders following on this original path, and creating incredible cars from almost nothing. While it's exciting to witness, it just seems altogether more interesting when compared to a historical reference point, and one draws out some inspiration from two brothers who simply wanted to build fast cars... Ahh, the good old days.

A pun-tastic romp through Trannyland...

I’m browsing a couple weeks ago, and came across this video:



A field FULL of transmissions. Man, it’s a veritable shitload of transmissions. Is this collection still growing? Is this a mounting problem? A planetary disaster waiting to happen?

Perhaps this guy’s just really in synch with his collection... He may have been in the sun too long, a bit unstable, or maybe he blew a gasket, but that’s just my input. Seems to be an almost sealed case after filtering the evidence. But, if his family banded together, mounted an effort, and pumped some energy behind it, perhaps their pressure would result in a clutch situation, and things would run smoothly, almost fluid, if you will. Hopefully they can get this moving before someone passes another regulation.

I mean, what his yard needs is something more than a quick pickup... any dipstick can see that. Unloading that collection would really get his financial wheels in motion, and convert his neighbors to happy campers, versus being so tourqued-off, and switching their pitch to a more pleasant output... before someone throttles him, or chokes him with a length of cable, and winds up in the joint. I know it has me geared up.

I was going to remain neutral about this guy’s crop of transmissions, and not get on his case, but after seeing the video again, and all of those cores parked there, I’m reversing my position. I can’t imagine his neighbors adapting to the situation... they’re probably thinking “Hey Jack, we’re not taking this anymore. We’ve put our cause into overdrive, and calling the housing committee, in the hopes that they'll provide leverage, so don’t get all shifty with us. Property values are slipping! We shudder to think of where they’ll be in a year!”

Foaming at the mouth, they’ll drive him out of the community before things get too low, I’d imagine…. just a matter of pushing his buttons, and getting the county to seal his fate. They’ll have to hire a toploader to get those things over to the rock crusher, and that’ll be a lot of manual labor.

Hey… this stuff won’t happen automatically, you know.

More enjoyable nonsense (and some sense, too!) over at Studio PCK Hot Rod Design.